Guardian Alien
by Danny vs A Month
Summary: James is badly wounded in a helicopter crash in Spain. However, his life is saved by a young girl who tells him she's in danger. In a world he doesn't fully understand, and probably never will, he tries to repay his debt.
1. Chapter 1

I do not own Lorien Legacies or any of the characters except James, obviously. The idea wouldn't leave me alone.

* * *

Lost

All around me the crackle of M16s and the thunder of tank fire go off. It's deafening. All around me, Marines and Soldiers from the United states run, or crouch, or lay in the prone, all firing away at the targets spread around the training area. Explosions and plumes of sand shoot into the air everywhere. I can't even hear myself think. Luckily I don't need to. My military training is beaten into me, almost literally, at times. As soon as I get the signal, I sprint out from behind the tank I've been in cover behind. I raise my M16, firing and dropping three targets in rapid succession, the rest of my team just behind me. We sprint across the space between our forces and the targets. Then, we reached the building we're supposed to be trying to clear the "terrorists" out of. I kick the door open and step in, spinning right and shooting the target in the face as the next man steps through the door, shooting the target in the room behind me. The next two walk in, instantly heading up the staircase in front of us, as we have the last million times we've done this drill. And, as with the last million times, we'll be yelled at for splitting up, despite the complete success of our method. I swing left in the living room I'm in, walking around the coffee table and entering the kitchen. Nothing across the room. I spin to my left as I enter, dropping another "terrorist." I exit the kitchen, meeting up with the other member of my team from the bottom floor and we go to the stairs, announcing that we're coming up and then silently ascending the stairs.

Just as I reach the top, the building shakes, a misplaced tank shot or mortar probably falling too close to the house. I can hear our platoon sergeant swearing and screaming over the radio but I'm too busy falling backward to listen. My teammate manages to catch me, barely, and I regain my footing, grumbling something that I'm not even really able to understand, and continue up the stairs. My team split up as soon as they reached the top so make our way down the hallway, making our way to the last set of rooms that haven't been cleared yet. We pause outside them and I radio my team for support. A moment later, they're finished with the rooms we bypassed and they take their positions near us. I kick my door open, the one across the hall being kicked in by one of the other two. The moment they're open, the four of us enter, shooting the two "terrorists" in the room before getting the "hostage" and walking out into the hallway. Across the hallway, my other two teammates come out with the "VIP" and head back outside. I follow, radioing that our mission was a success. Then, we hightail it back behind the tank and the gunfire finally stops.

"Five minutes," our sergeant says, looking at his stopwatch. Then, he turns, glaring at us.

About five minutes later, he walks away, having thoroughly torn us all new assholes for separating, since we were under strict orders not too. I sigh, resting my rifle against the tank and pull out my canteen, taking a sip and grinning.

"I think he was impressed," I grin.

"Oh really James?" the team's machine gunner, Chad Chadwick, snorts. "What gives you that impression?"

"We're not going again," our team's assistant machine gunner and sniper, Jimmy "Hawkeye" Falcon, laughs.

"Agreed," the team's newbie, dubbed The Rookie, chuckles.

The Rookie is actually named Clark Wayne. Because our Team is made up of nerds, it took us five weeks to stop making Superman and Batman jokes at him. Though, his magazines all still had the two heroes' emblems painted on them. Rookie was about five five with messy black hair shaved on the side but kept longer than regulation on top, tan skin, brown eyes, and a jagged scar on his right forearm that he claims was from a knife fight. Not sure if he was telling the truth about it. Hawkeye is six five, the tallest guy I've seen except Gigante, the company's resident wall of muscle and anger. Hawkeye is Guamanian, with a raging moto high-and-tight for his black hair, thick muscles all over his body, a handsome face and smooth voice that wins over whatever woman he wants it to, and an attitude that makes him a great friend...unless he's around your girlfriend. He has a habit of getting girls into bed then paying them to never talk to him again. He's a nice guy though. Just with a lot of relationship issues. Chad Chadwick is about my height, standing at five eight with naturally bright orange, curly hair, a lanky build, an affinity for running, and a splash of freckles that seem to fade and reappear depending on the day. Sometimes the hour. Chad's a comedian, or at least he thinks he is. I'm the leader of the team, though not by choice, and therefor my sense of humor is crippled by my job of dealing with higher ups and general authority. My blond hair is shaved on the sides, though faded from lower than Hawkeye's, as are both Rookie and Chad's, and my emerald green eyes are usually surrounded by bloodshot sclerae and dark circles. Being an insomniac and being in the military don't usually mix in a good way, though they go hand in hand in most cases. Like Rookie I've got muscle but it's less bulk than Hawkeye. I go with the preference of muscle endurance over muscle power. I'd rather be able to fight for a while than win a fight in one punch. Just in case that one punch doesn't work.

"Get your rifles ready," a gruff, pissed off, and extremely deep voice says from above me.

I groan, turning and looking almost straight up into the face of Gigante. His real name is Nokolav Yakovich and the Russian giant hates me and my team. Probably because we're always getting everyone else in trouble. Gigante stands roughly seven foot three and is a massive wall of muscle that could be spray painted green and pass as the Hulk. His hair is shaved around the side even lower than mine, even though it's not supposed to be that low, and then is messy and long at the top, brown hair falling all the way down to halfway past his ears and below his eyebrows, but strands sticking in every direction. I suppose no one says anything about his obviously out-of-regs hair because either they can't see it when they look up, or they're too afraid of what he'll do if they do.

"We're going again?" I groan.

"No," Gigante grunts. "We're leaving."

"No police call?" I grin, referring to having to pick up all of the spent casings. "Tight. I am so out of here."

I grab my rifle and my team and I dart around Gigante before he can grab us. Not fast enough, though, as I'm soon dangling by my flak jacket a foot or so above the ground, no visible strain on Gigante's face.

"Dude, seriously, what are you?" I ask as he stares at me.

"You're police calling," Gigante stated.

"Oh what?" I scoff. "You're fuckin' shittin' me!"

"Clean. Now." He sets me on my feet, and I toss my rifle to Rookie, turning and beginning to make my way around the training field, picking the spent casings up and stuffing them into my kevlar helmet.

Once it's full, I dump it into an ammo crate and hurry back to the others, not bothering to go back for the other million trips. Rookie hands me my rifle and I climb onto the chopper bound for base. The rest of my team is onboard with us and we lift off, heading for base. It's a fairly long trip, truthfully a bit longer than I'd expect. I wasn't really sure why he had to fly to far to train, especially since our base is on the coast and we do absolutely no water training, but that's the US military for you.

"Yo boss!" Hawkeye shouts. "We're comin' up on Avila!"

I blink in surprise looking out the open door of the chopper. Sure enough, the city is only a little ways off. I'm surprised we're that far already, almost a quarter of the distance. And yet, it's really not surprising at all, when I think about it. I tend to space out a lot. Suddenly the chopper shudders. I look up at Hawkeye knowingly and we both lunge for Rookie and Chad, throwing them into their seats where they begin to buckle themselves. They've never been in a chopper when it's crashed. Hawkeye and I have been in three. We both know what's coming. Hawkeye is already in his seat and buckling by the time I'm able to get Chad to stop freaking out by the chopper suddenly shaking violently to buckle him. I suppose it's fair that he's freaking out. Even in the military, they can't train you for a previously perfectly fine air craft to suddenly plummet to the ground over three hundred feet below. I reach for my seat then freeze. Three hundred feet. Fuck that.

I scramble toward the pilot, trying to shout over the alarms, warnings, grinding metal gears, and wind. I can't. I do, however, manage to point down and he nods, steering downward. Bad move. The helicopter's rear propeller breaks loos and the chopper begins to spun and enters a nose dive. I grab my seat beside me as the wind threatens to suck me out the open door. I can hear Hawkeye and Rookie screaming. Chad is silent. I look over. There's a broken piece of propeller blade sticking out of his chest. His eyes are wide open and panicked but he's lost the ability to speak, probably breath. I swear, pulling myself into the seat and strapping myself in, barely. By the time I'm done, my arms are screaming with fatigue and pain. Then, there's the sound of screeching metal even louder. My world turns crooked and I see Hawkeye's look of panic. Then, my seat tears free. As soon as I'm out, I pull the ripcord of the parachute I had had to bully the officers into giving me for my seat, the chute deploying from the carrier now secured to the seat. The chute flails above me, failing to snap open and slow my descent, as though laughing at me for being thrown out.

Below me, there's a deafening crash and explosion, a massive propeller spinning past me, tearing a gaping hole in my chute but finally opening it, for all the good it does me. I squeeze my eyes closed, praying desperately to not die in a massive heap of twisted crumpled, and probably burning helicopter parts somewhere below me. I hear a roar of wind as the ground rushes up to meet me, then, my vision goes black.

* * *

Read and review.


	2. Chapter 2

I do not own Lorien Legacies or any of the characters.

* * *

Saved

I groan. As my awareness returns, it brings with it a tidal wave of pain. I'm broken in several places. My ribs, definitely my left arm and legs, maybe my back. A concussion feels like the least of my worries given the sticky fluid my head is resting in. I can hear my breathing wheezing in and out of my mouth, a whistling barely audible to my ears from my chest. Punctured lung. Terrific. I slowly open my eyes. The helicopter burns in the distance. But just before it, I can see Hawkeye and Rookie. Both of them are battered and their limbs lie at odd angles, but they might be alive. However, there's nothing I can do about it. I look down, seeing a metal rod from God only knows where, sticking out of my chest, breaking through the seatbelt's harness, trapping me in place. The end in front of me is coated in blood, despite being in the air, so I obviously had the good luck to land on it.

I Try to pull the rod but pain flares through my body and it goes numb, falling limp. Feeling begins to return just as a gasp reaches my ears. it sounds far away, my head failing to return from feeling light and clouded. I turn my head, seeing a maybe two or three years younger than me standing down the path beside us a ways. Not far away either. She runs over, seeming to move faster than should be possible. Apparently I'm more out of it than I thought. I groan, head falling back before struggling to look up at her again.

"Hello there," I manage to say, tasting blood now. "I'm guessing that you didn't just happen to stumble on our little...accident. Curious about the exploding helicopter?"

She blushes a little but nods. I chuckle, wincing as it sends pain through my body.

"Don't you know?" I ask, my voice little more than a hoarse whisper. She looks confused. "Curiosity killed the cat."

Her eyes widen and she smiles a little before looking under me at the base of the rod.

"I can help you," she says.

"Listen, as much as I appreciate the offer, shooting me in the head won't do much," I grin, amazed I can talk as well as I do. "I don't have-"

"No," she interrupts. "I mean, I can save you."

My eyes widen and I have to force myself not to laugh.

"That's a good one," I grin. "Thanks for the joke but let's be...honest. I'm going to die here."

"No," she says, looking completely serious and determined. "This will hurt, a lot."

I open my mouth to ask what she's talking about when suddenly, the rod rockets upward out of my body, taking the harness out of the chair with it. My vision flares completely white, pain unlike anything I've ever felt exploding through my body. Then, suddenly, it doubles. I clamp my mouth shut, screaming through my teeth for a moment. My breathing increases rapidly along with the pain. I squeeze my mouth shut, trying to slow y breathing, to work through the pain. I can't. I stop myself from breathing altogether, silencing my scream. I can feel tendons and veins sticking out on my neck and my temples. My face feels heated somehow, despite the nearly unbearable cold feeling suddenly filling my chest. Then, suddenly, it stops. The pain's gone, and the coldness is slowly fading. I open my eyes, my vision black for a moment before lightening, blurry at first before sharpening, allowing me to see her face, looking a little tired and with a couple beads of sweat on the sides of her head. I blink, looking down at my chest. There's no wound. I've been healed. I stare at it, awestruck. Then, I stare up at her.

"Who...who are you?" I breathe as she moves her hand to my broken arm.

Pain flares through it, but in comparison to what I had just felt it's nothing. The feeling of my bones moving under my skin, going back into place, is extremely uncomfortable though.

"My name is Marina," she says, looking down at my legs, eyes widening before she looks away.

I look down and see why. My seat is sitting up. Originally I though it was because of the pole but now I see it's sitting on something. My legs. My femurs both are snapped just above the knee and jutting out of my legs, coated in blood, and when I lean to the side to look under my chair, it's hard to tell my lower legs from the ground.

"That's going to hurt a bit," I breath sitting up, trying not to vomit, Marina seeming to be in the same condition. "You...can fix them...right?"

"I...I'll try," Marina says. "But first, I'll have to get them out from under you. It'll probably hurt more than the pole. I'm sorry."

Then, my world explodes into pain once more. This time, however, I'm only subjected to it for a moment before I black out.

* * *

When my eyes drift open, I'm in a small cave filled with painting of various things, including a boy's face, and an amazing landscape. There's a lantern lighting the cave, Marina is facing away from me, painting a second face, a girl's. Hawkeye and Rookie are off to one side, still out cold, but both looking perfectly healthy. I look down at my legs. Healed. I slowly push myself up, sighing in relief when there's no pain. Marina turns toward me, smiling slightly and I can't help but return the smile.

"Are you feeling okay?" she asks. "Your legs fully healed?"

I flex them, bending and straightening them. Then, I nod, staring at her in wonder.

"What exactly...are you?" I ask. I feel stupid for thinking it, but before I can stop myself, I ask the only answer my brain can think of. "An angel?"

She blushes slightly but shakes her head.

"I'm not an angel, I promise," she says. "I'm..." She looks out of the cave, worry on her face.

"You don't have to tell me, "I say, seeing she's not comfortable talking about it. "I'm content just being alive. I don't need to know how."

She smiles at me then takes a deep breath before speaking.

"I'm from another galaxy," she says, and I'm pretty sure my jaw bounces off the ground. "I'm what's called a Loric. on my world, our planet gave us abilities, like me healing you, and my telekinesis, which I used to pull out the pole and lift you off your legs. We call them legacies."

"Not that I'm adverse to knowing how you saved me, but why tell me this?" I ask. "Aren't you afraid I'll freak out?"

"You're military right?" she asks. "American? I'm telling you...because...I guess...I trust you. Besides, I already healed you. Might as well explain. But...there aren't many Loric left. We were wiped out by a race of aliens known as Mogadorians. They wiped out our entire planet in no time. Only a total of eighteen of us got off the planet, to my knowledge. Nine of us were like me, with legacies. We called them Garde. The others were known as Cêpans, they're our caretakers, and our mentors. Our guardians. But, the Mogadorians followed us here, to Earth. They're hunting us. Before we left, there was a charm, placed on us. We could only be killed in a specific order. In the order, I'm number seven. Right now, three are dead."

"So, four five and six have to go before you can be?" I ask and she nods. "What happens if they attack you?"

"I don't know," Marina admits. "I tried to ask Adelina, my Cêpan but she refuses to talk to me about where we come from. She denies that it's real. She won't even train me to use my legacies."

"Are there any Mogadorians here?" I ask and catch her grin. "What?"

"I didn't expect you to remember how to say their name properly after I only said it once."

I grin this time. "I'm pretty good at copying things I hear, as far as pronunciation and accents, when talking in another language."

She smiles then sighs.

"I don't know if there are or not," Marina says. "There might be. But, I'd like to think that there aren't because they haven't tried to get me."

"I think we could get you out of here," I offer. "If you want."

She shakes her head.

"I'll be leaving soon enough," she says. "But for now, I can't. Thank you, but I'll stay."

"Alright then," I sigh. "I guess I'll just have to rent a hotel."

"What?" she blinks, thoroughly confused.

"Well I can't just leave you to be attacked my bloodthirsty aliens alone after you saved my life," I grin. "Just think of me as a stand-in guardian."

She smiles at me for a moment before Hawkeye and Rookie begin to stir, both groaning. They slowly push themselves up before looking around panicked for a moment before they see me. Instantly, Hawkeye's eyes shift to Marina.

"Well well," Hawkeye begins, voice smooth and inviting as ever. "Now I know I'm dead. Because I wake to see an angel."

"Cool it Hawkeye," I snort, noticing Marina blush. "The last thing we need is you trying to get the girl that saved us into bed and then getting yourself in a whole lot more trouble. Remember what happened last time?"

Hawkeye winces and Marina looks over at me interestedly.

"That was an accident," Hawkeye stated. "Besides, I would have stepped up."

"He got some chick in France pregnant, but didn't find out until her husband tried to beat his skull in for getting her pregnant then making her get an abortion," Rookie explained. "He only did the first part. The second was all the chick."

Marina's eyes widened, face darkening, and she stared at the ground.

"Probably shouldn't have explained," I sighed. "So, Marina, where do you live?"

"Santa Teresa," Marina stated. "It's in Avila."

"Avila?" Hawkeye grins. "You don't say. James my friend, I'm thinking it's about time we cut ties with our dear friends in the Marine Corps."

"You're revolting," I snort. "But yeah, I'm not going back either. I promised to...well, it's a bit of a long story."

"Oh don't tell me you're engaged already," Hawkeye scoffs, both me and Marina's faces darkening.

"Fuck no!" I snap, noticing Marina flinch at my language. "Uh, sorry."

She shakes her head, forcing a smile.

"It's alright," Marina says. "I should be getting back."

"Alright," I nod before thinking for a moment. "Actually, can you break something for the three of us?"

"Break?" Rookie asks before wrapping his left hand around his right index finger defensively. "You're joking!"

"That or your legs," I shrug."

He swings his legs around, stretching them out in front of himself. I roll my eyes then sigh, looking to Hawkeye who shrugs and holds out his hands.

"Why your fingers?" Marina asks.

"Without trigger fingers that function, we'll be discharged," I state. "Then we'll be free to come and you can always patch us up after."

Marina looks between the three of us for a moment before shaking her head.

"I can't do that."

"Thank God," Rookie sighs.

"I see," I nod. "Alright. Plan B. We'll have to fall down a mountain and land in front of a group of Marines after we break everything."

Marina stares at me wide-eyed but Hawkeye laughs.

"He means that we're going to play brain damage to get out," Hawkeye translates. "After a helicopter crash, there's no better play besides being broken. And no one's better than the three of us."

"Except Chad," Rookie speaks up and we all fall silent.

"Anyway, you should get home," I say. "Can you point us in the direction of the chopper's crash site?"

She nods and we all crawl out of the cave, a tight fit for Hawkeye, who nearly gets stuck, then leads us down a path. Apparently, the site is on the way back to Avila. Finally we pass it and stop. We thank her and she leaves, heading home. Just as we arrive, we hear the telltale chop-chop-chop of the rescue chopper the Corps. sent for us.

"Everybody ready to lose our minds?" I grin.

"Completely," Hawkeye grins. "I've been waiting for a chance to do this."

"We'll have to be completely out of it to get released soon," Rookie says. "It'll probably take a couple months at least."

"Welcome to the hardest mission of your life," I grin. "Let the games begin."

* * *

Read and review.


	3. Chapter 3

I do not own Lorien Legacies or any of the characters.

* * *

Being of Service

Finally free. After nearly two months of playing psychopath, we're finally discharged from the military. Of course, we disappear from base before they can throw us on a plane home. A few hours later, we're back in Avila, Spain, looking for a certain alien friend of ours. After a few minutes, we go to a café and sit down around a table for breakfast while we decide how to go about finding her and avoiding anyone that wants to track us down to get us home.

"Hey if all else fails, we could always crash another chopper," Hawkeye grins.

"Yeah right," Rookie snorts. "Breaking my entire body once was bad enough. I probably wouldn't survive again."

"We're not crashing another chopper," I snort. "Though that could have the potential to have fun, depending on who we get in trouble. We'll just have to find another way to find Marina."

"Sorry to interrupt," a man at the next table speaks up, watching us while pouring himself a glass of wine. "Did you say Marina? Tell me, how is it you all know Santa Teresa's resident queen of the sea?"

"Queen of the sea?" I grin. "Well, she saved our lives. Pulled us out of a helicopter after we had the good luck to plow it into the ground." _And then healed our fatal wounds, but you don't need to know that._

"Oh did she now?" the man mused, sipping his wine. "I see. I suppose, if you want to meet us with her you could go to mass."

"Mass?" I blink. "Oh, that's right. Santa Teresa is a church, right?"

"That's right," the man nods. "Also an orphanage. And every Sunday after mass, the girls living there cook for everyone who attends mass."

"Oh really?" I nod grinning. "Alright. We can wait until tomorrow to see our friend. We just need to find a hotel."

"There's a relatively cheep one down the road," the man states. "Would you like me to show you?"

"No thank you," I smile. "We can handle it."

He nods and returns to his wine. We eat our meals and pay then leave for the hotel, paying for a couple of nights in one room. A minute later, we open the door to our room and groan. One small bed. One chair.

"Well, looks like we're fighting over the bed," Hawkeye sighs.

"No," I snort. "It's yours. You need the space for your ego. We'll make it work."

Hawkeye nods and we pile our backpacks full of spare clothes, hygiene gear like toothbrushes and toothpaste, and water in the corner then Hawkeye collapses on the bed sighing happily while Rookie sits in the chair. I snort in amusement and sit against the wall beside our stuff. It's still early day but within minutes all three of us are out cold.

* * *

I step through the doors, feeling highly out of place wearing a pair of blue jeans and a dark grey Tee-shirt when everyone else is dressed in actual good clothes. Nevertheless, I follow the crowd to mass. I stand off to the side for a few minutes, then take a seat at the back. Hawkeye sits on the far left about halfway up and Rookie sits in the far right back corner. Even dressed as we are, we still manage to blend in fairly well, which is more of a habit than anything. Years of hiding from military officers and NCOs makes us generally hide no matter what still.

After a minute, two girls sit beside me and I feel the corners of my mouth tug up in a smile as I recognize one of them. She looks down, also smiling but forces herself to stop. I do the same as the man giving the sermon starts to speak. I've never been to a catholic church. It bores me fairly quickly, despite me being christian.

"Where have you been?" Marina whispers.

"Sorry," I whisper back, noticing Marina keeping a careful eye on the nuns at the front of the room. "It took a while to get them to sign the papers. I think I might have actually gone crazy having to talk to the walls for that long."

She covers her mouth, silencing a laugh. After a moment, she introduces the young girl, maybe seven, beside her as Ella.

"Pleasure to meet you Ella," I smile. "So, anything important happen while I was gone?"

I can feel Marina's mood darken a bit.

"I think one of them is here," Marina says, and it takes me a minute to realize what she's talking about.

"Mogadorian?" I ask, earning a nod.

"I don't know for sure, but I'm not going to be sticking around much longer to find out," Marina says. "I'm going to be leaving soon. Fist I need to get Adelina to open something with me."

"Open something?" I ask but decide not to press. "I'll keep an eye open. What's he look like?"

"Dark coat, mustache, creepy," Marina says, and I clamp my mouth shut on a chuckle.

I nod. After a while, the sermon finally ends, along with mass, and we make our way to the cafeteria, except for Marina, who goes to speak with a nun who I assume is Adelina. After we eat, Hawkeye, Rookie, and I leave. They're both a bit unhappy that Marina disappeared after Mass without greeting them, but they get over it relatively quickly. We're all still excited about being out of the military. We walk down the street, looking for something to do and find ourselves at the café. We go inside and order some coffee, for lack of anything else to do. About a minute later, a tall man wearing a dark coat with a mustache and a bearing that all but screams not-from-around-here sits at the table with us, staring at me.

"Well well well," I say, hand slowly trailing toward the concealed pistol I'm no longer allowed to legally carry. "Look what the cat dragged in. And here I thought I might not actually find you."

"Don't bother with the pistol," the man says, not having the Spanish accent that almost everyone else around her does. Definitely not a normal person. "I'm not here for violence, and I'm not here to hurt Marina."

"Really?" I ask. "Care to explain before I pop a cap in your ass?"

"How do you know about Mogadorians?" the man asks.

"Come again?" Hawkeye asks, thoroughly confused, since I never explained about Marina, only that she had healed us and we couldn't let anyone know.

"Marina," I say. "She says you're one."

"I'm a Cêpan," the man says. "I'm hear to try and save her before the Mogadorians find her."

"What the hell is he talking about?" Hawkeye asks.

"Where's your proof?" I ask, ignoring Hawkeye.

"If I were Mogadorian, I wouldn't be speaking with you," he says. "I'd be trying to find a way to catch her. And I'd be pale. Unhealthily so."

"Again, where's your proof?" I ask.

"Here," a small voice says behind him as Ella appears, except, she's older, maybe eleven or twelve.

"What...how..." I stare at her wide-eyed and she smiles.

"I'm Loric," Ella says. "I'm the tenth, but I didn't make it to the ship with the others so I was sent on a second with Craytan." She gestures at the man. "So far, the only legacy I have is that I can alter my age."

"And you're staying around seven to keep an eye on Marina without her knowing?" I ask.

"Exactly," Ella nods. "She needs her Chest. It contains things from our planet that were left for her by the Loric Elders. We're waiting until she can get it open, but we need to leave soon or the Mogadorians will find us."

"Why does Adelina have to open it with her?" I ask.

"It's the way the lock works," Craytan says. "The Garde and the Cêpan together have to open the lock. Once the Cêpan dies, the lock can be opened by the Garde alone, though."

"I see," I nod. "Alright. So, grab the chest, grab Adelina and let's get the fuck out of here. We'll worry about it later."

"We're going to let her open it the first time," Craytan says. "Once she does, we'll get them out."

"Alright," I nod. "I'll help keep an eye out for any Mogadorians."

"You won't be able to miss any they send at her," Craytan says. "They'll be so pale that they look sick. And they'll probably be bald with tattoos on their heads. But don't count on the bald heads."

I nod and stand, Hawkeye and Rookie doing the same.

"You should probably get back," I say, looking to Ella. "And, don't mention seeing me. She thinks you'r a Mogadorian and it'll be complicated explaining why I talked to you rather than shooting you on sight."

Ella nods and turns, leaving, and Craytan stands as well.

"I'm going to get things ready incase we need to call for help," Craytan says. "it's going to be obvious, but it will also bring in Mogadorians. A lot of them."

"Hope we don't need to then," I stated. "Alright, I'm off."

Craytan nodded and me and my team left. We spread throughout town, beginning to rove as we looked for any pale creepy guys with bald heads and tattoos. As we did, I explained in brief what Craytan and I had been talking about to the two of them. They took it surprisingly well on account of having been healed from a fatal wound.

By nightfall, there was no sign of any Mogadorians. I decided to head to Santa Teresa to make sure nothing made it through. I started around the outside and stopped about halfway. Three extremely pale men in dark trench coats were looking in through a window. I drew my pistol but thought better of it and put it away, trading it for a knife. Hopefully they weren't super fast or some bull shit.

"Hey freaks!" I call out quietly enough that no one inside would hear me. "Stalking is a crime."

They spin toward me and grin. Even in the dark, I can tell they have sharp teeth. I grimace at the thought of being bitten but the thought disappears when they all draw a dagger, the daggers all a bright white metal that seems to glow.

"Shame you found us," one of them says, his voice gruff and harsh. "Now you die."

One of them sprints forward, thankfully at about a human speed, and slashes at me. I duck under it and he slashes back the other way. I catch his elbow in my free hand, stabbing at him and he catches mine. He's got martial arts training a lot like mine. Terrific. I drop, the freak's knife passing over my head, then sweep his legs out from under him and drive my knife down into his throat. I expect blood, and I'm not disappointed. A thick black fluid sprays out of his neck for a moment before his entire body falls away as ash. I stagger backward, eyes wide, then look to the other two. They're not pleased.

Just as one of them takes a step forward, his head snaps backward and a fairly loud crack rings out as the back of his head is blasted off, instantly turning to ash, along with the rest of his body. Hawkeye. The other Mogadorian's eyes widen and he turns to run. Just as he reaches the corner, Rookie steps around it, clotheslining him before driving a knife into his head. Then, he stands and grins at me.

"Thanks for the backup," I sigh. "Let's get out of here before someone investigates the noise."

He nods and we leave in a hurry. We head back into town, heading for our hotel but stop as we meet Craytan.

"There you are," I say. "Mogadorians were at Santa Teresa. They know where she is."

"I'll call for help," Craytan nods. "What happened?"

"They were killed," I say. "Conveniently, they turned to ash when they died. Is that normal?"

"Yes," Craytan nods. "Alright. If you killed them all, it may be safe now."

"We'll keep watch still," I promise. "Go do whatever you're going to do."

He nods and leaves. Then, the two of us disperse once again into town, Hawkeye remaining where he is so he can keep an eye on Santa Teresa.

* * *

Read and review.


	4. Chapter 4

I do not own Lorien Legacies or any of the characters.

* * *

Attack

When Craytan said he was going to call for help, the last thing I was expecting him to do was light an entire mountain on fire. He had burned a massive symbol into it, one I doubt anyone will think is anything more than a random mark, except Mogadorians and Lorics. Both will recognize it as a Loric symbol. All we could do now, was wait for the Mogadorians to arrive to take Marina. I had tried to explain to Craytan that we needed to get out before then, and he claimed he tried to go and find Marina the night before but she had thought he was a Mogadorian and fled from him. He had tried to find her again in the morning, but she had been missing. To complicate matters further, a young girl who looked a lot like Marina was strangled at some point during the night.

Now, Hawkeye, Rookie, and I are stationed throughout the city, watching for Mogadorians while Craytan and the man that had told us about mass, a man named Héctor Ricardo, tried to find Marina. I sigh, looking up as something moving through the air catches my eye. It can't be a bird. And it certainly doesn't look like a plane. It's a UFO.

It flies low, hovering above the orphanage. Then, something extends down from it, pointing at the roof. I rip my radio out instantly radioing the others just as it fires, blasting a hole in the roof where Mogadorians begin to climb in through from the ship.

"She's in the orphanage!" I shout before dropping my radio, sprinting toward it.

The ship fires again and a Mogadorian climes onto the hole then points inward. A moment later, a pair of metal bed frames fly out, one of them hitting him in the head, dropping him into the hole, probably killing him. I can't help but grin. Then, I reach the door at the same time as Hawkeye and Rookie. All three of us have our pistols out. I kick the double doors in and we step in, me aiming down the hall in front of us, and the other two spinning into side rooms.

"Go!" I say and we all take off.

I hear shooting on my left, then my right. I continue straight, heading for the room where mass was held. I reach a door on my right and spin into it, clearing the corners and head deeper in. At the other end is a door and I head toward it. Just as I near it, it flies open and a Mogadorian charges me. I squeeze off a shot into his head but before I can shoot the one behind him, the Mogadorian swats the gun away and tackles me to the ground, drawing a dagger. I catch his wrist as he tries to stab me. His other hand slams into the knife's pommel and I jerk my head to the side as the knife thuds down into the floor. He wrenches is back out and I grab his wrist with both hands as he puts his full weight and all his strength on top of the knife. After a moment of me holding him at bay, he slams his head into mine. I grunt in pain, jerking my arms sideways and the knife carves a scratch in my side instead of stabbing me in the heart. I bring my knee up into his groin and he shouts in pain before I roll us over, punching him in the nose twice then grab the dagger, driving it down into his face. I fall to the side, groaning before standing and grabbing my pistol, hurrying out of the room and starting back down the hallway. The only door left leads to the main room and it's already open. I sprint in, seeing a Mogadorian in a black trench coat with a glowing green sword slash at the nun Marina had spoken to after mass, Adelina. Adelina rolls under the blade, slashing the Mogadorian's left leg with a kitchen knife. Marina, who's running toward me, sees me raise my gun and drops to the ground. I squeeze off two rounds into the Mogadorian's back but he simply grunts, holding Adelina up by the throat. I fire again and the Mogadorian goes down on one knee. Adelina slashes his throat with the knife, the cut so clean and fast that it takes a second for blood to start spraying out. Then, the Mogadorian falls into ash and Adelina turns on me. Marina stands, smiling at me then back at her.

"¿Quién eres tú?" Adelina demands, asking who I am in Spanish.

"My name is James," I say. "I'm a human, and a friend."

"Where's your proof?" Adelina demands, her Spanish accent gone along with her change of languages.

I press my hand firmly to the cut on my side, wincing, then holding out my hand, showing my crimson blood. Marina gasps, hurrying forward to heal me.

"You don't seem surprised by the Mogadorian turning to ash," Adelina comments as Marina works. "How?"

"About two months ago, my helicopter crashed," I begin. "I had both legs crushed beyond recognition, a broken arm, and a metal pole through my heart. Marina found us, and saved us."

"Us?" Adelina asks.

I turn, looking back just as Hawkeye and Rookie walk in, lowering their guns upon seeing we're safe.

"This is Hawkeye, and Rookie," I introduce. "Back when Marina saved us all, they were unconscious when Marina explained who she is, and how she healed us, they were unconscious, so beyond the fact that we were healed, they were in the dark about the whole thing until yesterday. Yesterday, I saw my first three Mogadorians get turned into dust. I'm going to keep Marina safe from Mogadorians in exchange for saving my life. That's why the three of us spent two months trying to get ourselves discharged, or else I'd have been here sooner."

"Wait, you killed those Mogadorians?" Marina asked. "Ella said she saw three of them turn into dust but she said she didn't know how."

"Technically we each took one down," Hawkeye stated. "Of course, that's absolutely nothing compared to being healed by an angel."

"Cool it Hawkeye," I growl. "This isn't the time for that crap."

"Did you just _not_ swear?" Hawkeye grinned. "Oh dear. James. I'm so sorry. You really f-"

"Shut up!" I snap, turning away from him as he sits down on a pew, laughing hard. "Anyway, there's someone you need to meet, Marina. And, I promise you, he's not what you think."

Just then, Craytan walked into the room. Marina gasped, backing away from him, looking at me confused and hurt.

"He's not a Mogadorian," I say. "He can get us out of here. But, if you want, I can put these on him while he leads us to his proof."

I pull our a pair of handcuffs and Marina nods. Craytan turns away from us and I bind his hands then nod and he walks to the northern hallway.

"This way," he says.

I walk over to the dead Mogadorian's remains and pick up his sword then we all follow, Marina keeping me between herself and Craytan at all times.

"Why did you bring that?" Adelina asks, pointing at the sword.

"I like blades," I shrug. "Besides, I'm the only one here, except maybe you and Craytan, with sword training. Swords don't jam or run out of ammo."

"But guns require less energy," Craytan says. "I prefer range."

"So don't I," I agree. "But it's good to have a backup plan."

I have my pistol out again, in case any Mogadorians decide to charge out of the doors we're passing. Finally, we reach the stairwell to the belfry and the door opens, Ella sticking her eleven-year-old head out and smiling at us.

"Hi Marina," she greets. "Come on. Quick."

We all hurry up the stairs, closing the door behind us. Then, we stop at the top of the stairs. Just as we arrive, the tower shakes. Dust falls from the ceiling and walls. Then, it shakes again, large stones falling toward us, but Marina catches them with her telekinesis and hurls them out of the tower.

"We don't have long Craytan says, setting down a suit case and opening it, displaying numerous guns and ammo. "Ella is the tenth Garde, she was sent on a second ship from our home world, after yours. In a sense, I am her Cêpan. She is an Aeternus. She can change how old she is."

"I didn't even know that was possible," Marina says.

Craytan pulls out a pair of sub machine guns and I stare at the guns then my pistol.

"May I?" I ask.

"Help yourself," Craytan nods.

I set my stolen sword down, pulling out an M4 for both Hawkeye and Rookie, along with eight magazines full of ammo a piece. Then, I pull out a Tavor CTAR-21.

"Hello beautiful," I grin, grabbing a dozen magazines before spotting something under them. "No friggin' way."

I reach in and pull out an AA12 fully automatic shotgun.

"May I?" I ask.

"I thought you'd like that," Craytan grinned.

"Please tell me you have FRAG-12s," I ask, grinning like a child on christmas.

"In the pouch on the back," Craytan says.

Just as I reach for it, there's a banging on the door. I curse, grabbing a drum out of the pouch and grin, slamming it into place before grabbing several more. Thankfully, we all grabbed out backpacks after the Mogadorians showed up the night before, so I shove five more drums in the pack and throw it on my back. Then, I turn to the stairwell as the door crashes inward. Hawkeye holds a metal cylinder out to me and I accept it, looking to Marina.

"Get everyone down from the tower, now," I instruct her. "I'll hold them off until you do then jump."

She nods and I pull up my Tavor as the first Mogadorians appear. I light them up, dropping them rapidly.

"We're out!" Marina shouts from the bottom of the tower.

I drop the next group then pull the pin on the cylinder, grinning as I throw it. Our own special non-lethal grenade. As it falls, it clicks and my eyes widen.

 _Shit!_ is all I can think before the cylinder breaks apart, exploding and sending its contents shooting through the door onto the Mogadorians, but also up onto most of my front.

Pain erupts from everywhere it touched. I hear myself shout in pain and swear loudly as I stagger back, falling from the belfry. I feel myself slow down at the last minute and hear Hawkeye laugh and Rookie swear.

"You moron!" Hawkeye laughs.

"We gotta go!" Rookie says.

"He's burned!" Marina gasps, kneeling over me, judging by how close her voice is.

"We don't have time to worry about it now," Rookie says. "We have to go. We don't even know how effective it'll be on them."

In the background, I can hear screaming. For a moment I had thought it was mine, but I know I'm not breathing well enough to scream. That horrible shit got into my nose and mouth, swelling my wind pipe almost completely closed.

"Where do we go?" Marina asks.

"Your friend should be waiting," Craytan says.

I feel myself lifted by the arms, probably Hawkeye and Rookie, and we hurry along, my feet dragging due to me being light headed from pain, lack of oxygen, and nausea, which was also from the pain. Hell, getting stabbed wasn't even as bad as this. Finally, I'm lifted onto something metal and it shifts with a loud creak as two people climb up next to me. Pickup truck. I hear the door close and a moment later, we're speeding a long. The wind helps a little, but the pain is completely unbearable all the same.

"Marina!" Rookie shouts. "You need to get the stuff off him and out of his nose and mouth!"

After a moment, my pain intensifies rapidly as the stuff begins to move again, rising off of me. Then, it's over, and I'm just left with the chemical burns.

"I'm really, really sorry about this," Marina asks, and I realize exactly what about half a second before she starts healing me and I black out from the pain.

* * *

Read and review.


	5. Chapter 5

I do not own Lorien Legacies or any of the characters.

* * *

Battle

When I come to, we're still in the truck, speeding along the road and taking dangerously fast turns for as sharp as they seem to be. I groan, trying to sit up but Hawkeye holds me down, at least, the arm feels like Hawkeye's.

"Not done yet," Hawkeye says. "She only healed your windpipe so far."

A moment later, the pain returns a hundred fold. I scream but it's cut silent as the pain takes my voice. I start hyperventilating, unable to even stop myself rom breathing. Then, it's over, and the cool feeling I get when she heals me returns. Finally, I open my eyes. I can't see.

"Oh shit!" Rookie gasps. "His eyes!"

I hear Hawkeye curse.

"Hold your breath, Bro," is all the warning I get.

My eyes erupt in pain this time. It takes less time than my face, thankfully, and a moment later I can see again. I sit up, rubbing my eyes and look around.

"That was not pleasant in any way," I grumble.

"What was that stuff?" Marina asks through a small opening in the middle of the back window.

"Pepper Spray," Hawkeye states. "Just, a much, much stronger version than what is legally...recommended."

"That's probably why there's no one following us," I state.

"Right," Hawkeye nods.

As if on cue, a glowing white energy blast hits the tailgate of the truck and we all duck down, Craytan cursing loudly behind the wheel. I pull out my AA-12 and sit up, seeing several vehicles, pickups, cars, even a couple of humvees, following us. Mogadorians lean out the window, pointing strange weapons at us and firing bolts of bright white energy at us, most missing.

"Lousy shots," I snort, raising my AA-12 just as we skid around a corner.

I wait until the first vehicle starts to come around, then shoot the second in the rear several times. It explodes, the car lurching forward and catching the back of the first, dragging it off the road too, both vehicles rolling and crashing down the hill. The third's windshield is covered in flame and he doesn't see the turn, driving right off the edge then beginning to flip end over end down the mountain side. The road wraps back around and Marina has to clear debris for our truck quickly. the rest of the vehicles make it around the corners, chasing us, a well armored humvee in front. Just as we start around the next corner, I shoot at it, my shot goes wild, though, and hits the road in front of it. It swerves, the front left tire going into the crater I made and suddenly the vehicle is flipping and rolling along the road. We try to take another corner but we're going to fast. The three of us in the bed of the truck lay down, holding onto something just as we drive over the edge, beginning to drive down the side of the mountain, sticks and leaves hitting us. Finally we make it back onto the road and continue driving. Finally, we slam through a chainlink fence and then skid to a stop and the three of us hop out, landing on a beach as everyone climbs out of the cab. The vehicles are still a ways off but they're on their way.

"Now what?" I ask, glancing at Craytan.

Just then, a heavily armored humvee with a mounted gun hits the beach and we dive away from the truck as the humvee slams into it, Hawkeye and Rookie, who had already gotten away from it, open fire, killing the Mogadorians in the humvee before they can act.

"Now we fight!" Craytan stated, hurling an object into the lake, muttering in a different language, probably Loric.

Just then, several more vehicles arrive, all the Mogadorians in them opening fire before they're even at the beach. Shots begin to rain down everywhere, everyone hitting the ground. Hawkeye and Rookie start picking off Mogadorians in the further back vehicles as I start unloading on the closest ones. After a moment, another humvee with a mounted gun manages to make it to the beach and the gun starts firing at Hawkeye and Rookie. I draw my pistol, dropping the Mogadorian before sprinting to the vehicle and jumping on the back, swinging the gun around at the approaching Mogadorians. Craytan yells something at Marina and Ella who take off begin to head that way but I use my AA-12 to put that idea out of their heads. After several minutes, a bellowing roar rings out behind me. I spin, aiming at a massively elongated neck with a lizard head on top but Craytan forces my gun down.

"It's Olivia!" Craytan yells over the gunfire. "She's with us!"

"It's the fuckin' Lock Ness Monster!"

Craytan looks confused so I shake my head and roll back over, returning to firing at the Mogadorians again. Craytan puts some distance between us for safety and also continues firing. Then, Olivia roars again just as something in the distance, lots of somethings, start yipping. I look up from my sights and see that there are at least a hundred creatures like hairless reptile-lion hybrids sprinting down the mountain. I start firing at them, killing them even faster than the Mogadorians because the FRAG-12s can kill a handful at a time, but they ignore me, rushing into the water and speeding toward Olivia. I roll over, switching to my Tavor and start trying to pick them off of her, Hawkeye helping. However, after a couple of minutes, the damage is done. Olivia roars in pain, head whipping to the side to try and shake off several of the creatures, then begins to sink, a dark cloud spreading outward from her.

"Olivia!" Craytan shouts trying to run to the lake but Héctor catches him, forcing him to start shooting Mogadorians again.

The creatures that were alive start swimming back toward us, and while they're fast, they're all dead before they reach shore. Then, I look to the side and my rifle falls out of my hands. Craytan looks over at me then in the direction I'm looking just as the massive creature with hooved feet, a head the size of Héctor's truck, and massive bulging fists roars. Ella and Marina, who are at its feet, turn and sprint into the trees, the creature following. I grab my rifle and the sword that's still in the bed of the truck and sprint after them, though I don't really know why I grabbed the sword. Just as I reach the trees, the creature seems to notice me and turns around, roaring at me. I stab my sword into the ground and raise my AA-12, firing at it, the rounds exploding against its head, making it stagger backward as thick black blood splatters on the ground. I can hear Marina scream as it staggers backward and catch a glimpse of of her a short distance behind it as she falls backward, either off a cliff or down a hill, though I can't tell what.

"Marina!" I shout sprinting forward again.

The creature roars again, blood splattering around me again and again I fire at it, this time managing to hit a FRAG-12 against its tooth. The explosion snaps its head backward hard enough that it's thrown off balance and it staggers backward, arms pinwheeling, but it steadies itself. It turns, roaring downward and I can hear Marina scream. Then, Adelina sprints past me, firing a Mogadorian blaster as she charges the thing. It turns toward her, roaring just in time for her to literally leapt into it, tackling it over the edge. There's a deafening collision followed by the sound of something plowing up ground before a pause and a second collision, coming from far below and muted by the ground in the way. I sprit forward, finding myself at the top of a steep slope ending in a cliff. Marina clings to a boulder part way down, looking terrified but she smiles in relief when she sees me.

I lay down, holding my AA-12 by the barrel and reach down with it. She grabs it, letting go of the boulder and I grunt in effort as I pull her up. Once she's at the top she stands, looking around.

"WHere's Adelina?" She asks.

I remain silent, looking toward the edge and she gasps, choking back a sob.

"Marina!" Ella's voice shouts.

She spins around, sprinting back away from the slope. I lie on my back for a moment, catching my breath. After a moment, I hear the sound of a Mogadorian gun and the sizzle of it hitting something, followed by a strangled cry of pain from Marina, and somewhere Ella calls out to her. I roll over, seeing a Mogadorian in gold and black armor standing over her with his gun to her head. I push myself up, sprinting forward and tackle him off of her. About the same time we hit the ground, it starts to rain, making the ground slick with mud quickly. The Mogadorian picks me up by the throat but I manage to kick his gun away then plant my foot in his face. He staggers backward, back ramming into the hilt of my stolen sword. He grins and pulls it out of the ground, the previously white blade turning blue as he starts forward. I draw my knife and the two of us slowly close in on each other. After a moment, he darts forward, slashing at me and I duck under it, slashing at his armor experimentally but my knife sparks off of it harmlessly before the buttcap of the sword slams into the back of my head. I collapse in the mud and the Mogadorian laughs, standing over me with the sword raised. I see a gap in his armor and flip around,driving my knife into the back of his leg. He roars in pain, dropping to that knee and my fist crashes into his face. He staggers backward, ripping the knife out and then plants his foot in my chest, flipping me onto my back and knocking the wind out of me.

"Weak human," the Mogadorian growls, stepping up and raising the sword again.

I plant both feet into his uninjured knee, breaking it into a right angle the wrong way and the Mogadorian shrieks in pain, collapsing. I pick up the sword, too tired to lift it properly. I drive it into the Mogadorian's face then fall onto my back, groaning. I probably have a few broken ribs. After a minute, Marina is beside me, healing me. Guess I was right. When she's done, I push myself up as Ella runs over, holding out my rifle.

"The other one fell over the cliff," she says, almost apologetically.

"Don't worry," I smile, taking the rifle and pulling myself up with the sword but leaving it where it is.

We hurry back toward the others as Craytan runs up the hill, turning and firing back the other way, Hawkeye running past with Héctor over his shoulder and Rookie just behind them. Hawkeye sets Héctor down in front of Marina and Marina starts to heal him as the rest of us, minus Ella, start firing at the Mogadorians, holding them back while she works. Finally, she's finished and Héctor joins the fight. Just as he does, Craytan runs dry.

"Head to the dam!" Craytan shouts over the wind.

Just as he does, the wind stops. We all look up, the Mogadorians doing the same. Above us, the clouds begin to spiral together, then, a massive eye forms. We stare at it, thoroughly confused, until the storm picks back up, quickly getting worse than ever. I was the first to start moving again. I ran the short distance to the blaster the Mogadorian I brawled with dropped and then toss it to Craytan who nods as we sprint away. As we crest a small hill, we all spot the dam. It's way too far to believe we could ever make it there.

"We'll never get there alive!" I shout.

"Head for the lake!" Marina shouts.

We spin back toward the lake and I turn, shooting into the trees, seeing several Mogadorians take cover. Then, we burst out of the trees and the rain stops. I glance back, seeing that the rain continues to hammer the Mogadorians, the wind picking up until the rain storm around them is too heavy to even see them. We keep running, making it to the water where most of us take off into the water but Héctor stops.

"Can you swim?" I ask.

"No," Héctor says shaking his head.

I hand him my rifle then grab him from behind, dragging him backward into the water, swimming for both of us. During my time in the military, I survived and passed every water survival training they had to offer. Swimming with Héctor was easy compared to a few of them. The rain finally stopped, the clouds clearing and the Mogadorians began to charge again, Héctor opening fire and dropping a lot of them, more of the four-legged creatures that had killed Olivia charging out of their ranks, only for Héctor to kill them. Then, suddenly, he stopped firing as a speck falling from the sky landed, rippling the sand. It was a girl with raven hair and a large blue pendant around her neck.

"She's one of us!" Marina shouts.

Just as the girl looks toward us, she vanishes.

"What the..." I breath just before a pair of the creatures reach the water and are yanked into the air, slammed together, then swung around into more. "She's invisible!"

After a moment, more reach the water with a similar result. After a moment, a blaster rises from the ground, firing and slaughtering Mogadorians. Then, blaster fire comes at us from the side. I spin and Héctor begins shooting the Mogadorians wading into the water.

"I'm going to help!" Marina shouts."

"Hawkeye!" I shout, swimming toward him.

Like me, Hawkeye had gone through every swimming qualification they offered. He takes Héctor and I take my rifle, swimming toward shore with Marina. After a moment, she glances back at me and lifts me enough with Telekinesis that I can shoot while diving under water. I waste no time opening fire, killing Mogadorians right and left as Marina toes me toward shore, somehow able to stay under water long past when she should have to come up to breathe. I ignore it for the moment, since the blasts don't seem to be able to reach her through the water. I continue to drop Mogadorians and after a moment, my gun clicks. I drop the magazine and put a fresh one in, continuing to fire just as a blast hits the spent magazine, sending it spinning away. I grit my teeth, steeling myself in case they shoot any closer than a few centimeters to the side as that one was. I continue to fire and Mogadorians continue to drop. Then, as we reach them, Marina jumps out, hurling one and grabbing his blaster then shooting him. Together we finish off the ones on this stretch of beach then spin toward the vehicles and the hundreds of Mogadorians near them. We open fire and Mogadorians begin to disintegrate.

Something moves in the water and I shove Marina, a creature's jaws clamping down on my arm. I shout in pain, slamming my gun's barrel into its eye, making it release my arm before firing and killing it. Just as I do, the invisible girl appears in front of us.

"Are you okay?" she asks as Marina hurries over.

"About to be," I state, slinging my rifle and drawing my pistol, shooting several Mogadorians as they run at us.

"What number are you?" she asks Marina.

"Seven," Marina says.

"I'm Six," she introduces herself before vanishing again.

I don't fire again, worried I'll hit our invisible friend. But then she reappears on a humvee, a cannon floating over her, blasting Mogadorians and a glowing sword in her hand which she begins to slaughter Mogadorians with. Marina finishes with my arm and I put my pistol away, grabbing my rifle and open fire at the Mogadorians again. After a moment, Six hurls the sword into the army around her, which we've already killed a lot of, and impales three with it. Then, she grabs the gun mounted on the humvee and begins to mow down the Mogadorians. by the dozens. At that range, they never even have a chance. She swings the gun around with one hand, destroying the other vehicles while raising her other hand, clouds forming overhead. Lightning hits the ground, blasting a group of Mogadorians. Marina shouts for the others to get out of the water and we run toward the battle to help. As we do, a Mogadorian hurls a grenade at Six but Marina somehow manages to shoot the thing, detonating it and making Six spin, killing the Mogadorian that threw it. She continues to slaughter the Mogadorians with the gun and her lightning. The others reach us, helping and it's clear that within a couple of seconds or less we'll be finished. But then, Ella makes an announcement no one likes.

"Pikens!" Ella shrieks pointing.

I look up the mountain past a distracted Six to see four of the massive creatures I had dropped off a cliff charging at her from above. I sling my rifle, grabbing a blaster, shooting at them, careful to get close enough to Six to get her attention but not close enough to risk harming her. She snaps her head around and we all point. She spins, just as Marina hurls four silver furs into the first Piken, knocking it over where it's crushed to death by the other three. Six drops the next with her mounted gun but it falls and rolls down the hill and she has to leap off the humvee just before it's crushed by the dead Piken. The last two reach us and separate, but as they do, Six stands and lightning hits one of them, sheering off its arm. It roars, falling to its knees but quickly pushes itself back up and sprints at us again as the other charges from the other side. I turn, firing at it and hitting it in the eyes, making it veer off course and fall, blind. The other grabs Héctor as the others run from it and lifts him into the air.

"No!" Marina shrieks. "Héctor!"

It's quick, if nothing else. As the Piken lifts Héctor, it completely crushes his torso then hurls him into the lake. Just as it does, lightning blasts the blinded Piken, killing it. Then, Six turns, blasting the other Piken with lightning, taking its head off its shoulders. Suddenly, there's silence. No one does anything. Then, Marina turns, hugging Six.

"Thank you Number Six," Marina says.

"Just call me Six," Six says. "And I'm sure we'll get the chance to do it again."

"I'm Marina," she says. "This is Craytan, James, Hawkeye, Rookie, and Ella. She's number Ten."

Six stares at Ella in shock as Ella shrinks down to seven and holds her hand out. Craytan begins to explain about Ella and Marina goes to retrieve Héctor, bringing him back to shore and trying to heal him. I can tell from her expression it doesn't work. I kneel beside her and pull her against me gently.

"He's gone," I whisper. "He's gone Marina. It's too late."

She begins to cry, turning her head into my shoulder. After a while, she stops and pushes herself up, staring at his body. After a moment, I carefully pick it up and turn to her.

"We'll bury him at the dam," I suggest. "That sound good?"

She nods and we head back to the others, all turning and heading to the dam. Once there, Six and Marina use their Telekinesis to quickly clear the ground before lowering Hector in and filling in the hole.

"He once told me that the key to change is letting go of fear," Marina says, looking around at us all. "I don't know if I've let go of fear just yet, but the change is happening. It's definitely happening. And I can only hope that you all can help me through it."

"Of course, we're a team," Ella says.

We climb to the top of the dam, making our way across it. We stop on the other side while Craytan opens the gate.

"Do you know a John Smith?" Marina asks.

"I do know John," Six smiles. "He's number Four. We're supposed to meet up in two weeks."

"I don't think that's wise just yet," Craytan says. "We should gather the others. You've grown too strong. The Mogadorian leader will be coming here soon."

"Their leader?" I ask.

"Yes," Craytan nods. "Setrákus Ra. We're not ready for him. Not even close."

"Well do you know where the others are?" Six asked. "I sure don't."

"I do, actually," Craytan nods. "I also know where our Chimaera are."

"Chimaera?" I blink. "What the heck's a Chimaera?"

"It's a Loric animal that can shapeshift into other animals," Six says.

"Olivia was one," Ella says.

"Oh. Well, where are we off to first?" I ask.

"India," Craytan said. "I believe one of the Garde is in India."

* * *

Read and review.


	6. Chapter 6

I do not own Lorien Legacies or any of the characters.

* * *

Bad Welcome

I sit at the back of the plane, beside Hawkeye, Rookie sitting across the aisle from me. I'm staring down at my back pack. It's filled with a completely assembled and loaded FN5.7 hand gun and the pieces of my disassembled Tavor. Both made it through security because the FN5.7 is made out of a type of plastic rather than metal, and Six had levitated the pack over security very carefully so that no one noticed and it was never scanned. I still grin at the thought.

"Hey, she's lookin'," Hawkeye grins.

I look up, seeing Marina glancing back at me between the seats. She turns back around and the tiniest hint of a smile tugs at the corners of my lips. No one but Hawkeye notices.

"Oh, Bro," Hawkeye laughs. "You're in so deep."

I glance at him, eyes narrowed, then look back at my bag. Oh how I desperately want to not be on the plane. I've never been to India, but I really don't feel like hiking through the Himalayas. Even if it is for another Loric.

"Relax would ya?" Hawkeye grinned. "The plane's not gonna crash. Six's saved tons of 'em before."

"And I take it you think the fact that she's had to save planes from crashing repeatedly makes me feel better?" I grumble.

"You'll be fine," Hawkeye laughs. "Maybe we'll get lucky and a Mog will show up."

"If a Mogadorian shows up, Six or Marina will kill it with their telekinesis," I point out. "It also means, we've made a mistake. That would be bad."

Hawkeye shrugs and I groan, leaning my head against the chair in front of me.

"I'm going to sleep," I finally grumble. "Wake me up when we land."

I lean back, and despite my nerves, I'm out like a light in minutes.

* * *

I lean against the wall, watching Crayton try to flag us a cab. For a few minutes it's no use, until one cab cuts more than a little dangerously across several lanes of traffic and pulls to a stop, a nervous young guy sitting behind the wheel.

"Wow...uh...there's a few of you," he says as we all walk over.

"We'll make it fit," Hawkeye says. "We'll just have to get lap dances."

I slap the back of his head and he chuckles.

"I'm joking," Hawkeye grins. "Mostly."

Crayton takes the passenger seat and the rest of us pile into the back, me on the far right, Rookie in the middle, and Hawkeye on the left. Six sits in Rookie's lap, and Marina sits in mine, blushing slightly and trying not to be too heavy, though she's really not at all. Which leaves Ella to sit in Hawkeye's lap as a seven year old.

"So not cool," Hawkeye grumbles as Six grins, wrapping her arms around Rookie, who stares at me wide-eyed like a deer in the headlights.

I grin, knowing Six is just messing with Hawkeye but Rookie is clearly panicked. I'll have to remember to make fun of him later. We all manage to buckle up, somehow, and the cab speeds off, swerving violently through traffic, even jumping the sidewalk at one point. Six cheers, Ella clings to Hawkeye, and Marina clings to me, Hawkeye flashing me a knowing grin until I tap Rookie in the side of the foot with mine. A moment later, Rookie's other foot slams down on Hawkeye's and he yelps in pain. Then, Hawkeye passes it back and the Broken Foot war begins. Before anyone can really do much damage, we swerve into a side street, heading for several armored transports before skidding to a stop. The driver dives out and rolls away and I sigh unbuckling and opening the door, climbing out with my reassembled Tavor, aiming at the troops standing in the street, guns leveled at us. Hawkeye and Rookie join me, and Six a moment later. But Crayton stands with his hands up in my line of fire making me lower my rifle.

"Look at the doors," Crayton says.

I look. Big red spray painted "8"s.

"You think that's what it means?" I ask.

"We can at least see what they want," Crayton says.

"What do you want?" Hawkeye demands.

"We are here on order of Lord Vishnu, to deliver a message and take you to him," one of the soldiers say, all of them lowering their guns.

"What's the message?" Marina asks.

"His message is, 'I am Number Eight. Welcome to India. Please come and see me as soon as you can.' My name is Commander Grahish Sharma. I am the leader of our rebel group, the Vishnu Nationalist Eight. We come in peace. The guns are for...others. And persuasion, for what little good it would do."

"Odd group," I mumble. "Well, what do we do?"

"Let's go with them for now," Crayton says. "If all else fails, we can always leave later."

I sigh but nod and grab my backpack, throwing it on as we all head into the transport Sharma enters. Then, we rumble down the street.

* * *

A little while later, we're riding in silence toward the Himalayas. I'm sitting across from Marina, who's seated beside Six. Marina's chest is at her feet and Ella and Crayton are on opposite sides a little closer to the front. Hawkeye and Rookie are both sitting by the rear door and silent. I'm actually surprised Hawkeye's behaving himself with two attractive females in the vehicle, but he's silent as the grave.

"So, we ever going to take inventory of that Chest?" I finally ask, tired of the silence.

After a moment, Marina nods and reaches down, pulling it open and staring at the items inside, completely at a loss. After a moment, she pulls out what look like sunglasses. She looks up at Crayton but he shakes his head.

"Maybe they give you X-ray vision, or you can see heat," he suggests. "Only one way to tell."

She nods and puts them on, looking around.

"Anything?" Six asks.

"I don't know," Marina says. "Maybe they're just sunglasses."

"I doubt it," Crayton says.

"Kinda hard to believe you'd get ordinary sunglasses in a chest meant to help you fight Mogadorians," I agree.

"Can I see?" Marina asks.

Ella nods and hands them over and Ella puts them on, looking out the back.

"Hang on, everything looks a little different somehow," Ella says. "Like it's a little delayed...or maybe sped up."

She stares out the back window for a moment before her eyes widen.

"Rocket! Rocket!"

She scrambles for the door as Hawkeye sits up, raising his sniper's scope in the direction she pointed.

"She's right," Hawkeye growls. "Everybody out!"

We throw open the door and leap out. Most of us land okay but I have to good luck to have one leg catch on a dead shrub, breaking when I land and driving a large rock under my kneecap. I shout in pain, rolling along the ground and down the hill before finally stopping just as a missile hits behind the truck we jumped out of, exploding and flipping it forward. The next truck hits the crater and stops before two more missiles hit. Helicopters arrive, but my pain is blocking most of my vision with spots of white and red and there's dust in the air. I can hear gunfire start and somewhere Ella screams.

"Shit," I growl, trying to move myself. "Not good."

I make it to the road at the edge of the dust cloud and watch the chaos unfold.

* * *

Read and review.


	7. Chapter 7

I do not own Lorien Legacies or any of the characters.

* * *

Hike

I watch as the Lorics, Commander Sharma, and one of Sharma's soldiers fled up mountains on either side of the road, trying to take cover from the soldiers attacking us. They weren't Mogadorians. They were human. But they still seemed more than happy to kill us.

I try to push myself up but before I can, pain shoots through my leg and I drop back to the ground. After a moment, Hawkeye picks me up, sprinting toward the mountain nearby where Marina is taking cover. My head goes light and the trip is a blur. At some point, I'm switched to Rookie's shoulders and there's fresh blood on my side.

"Where's Hawkeye?" I mumble.

"Shut up!" Rookie growles, struggling up the steep incline under my weight.

Before I can ask again, I hear a spray of gunfire below us. I turn to look and see Hawkeye scrambling after us, blood running down his right arm and left leg. He's hit, bad. Finally, Rookie drops me at Marina's feet and she gasps. Then, pain erupts through my side. Apparently, I was shot too after all. Finally the pain subsides and I hear Rookie grunt an apology before the rock in my knee is ripped out of my leg. Then, Marina begins to heal my leg. As she finishes, Sharma's soldier takes off at a dead sprint back down the mountain.

"Where's he going?" Marina asks.

"Heal Hawkeye," I say, standing and pulling my Tavor out of my pack. "Let me worry about him."

The soldier runs all the way down the mountain toward the approaching soldiers. For a moment, I think that he's going to sacrifice himself, but no one fires. Then, the man slows to a stop and the man points back up at us. I swear and put a bullet between his eyes but it's too late. A T34 Caliope missile launcher turns and then raises, aimed directly at us. It wouldn't be a problem with Six probably already planning to destroy it. Except that a second a fair distance away was also turning to aim at us. Both fire. A rocket. One of the rockets flips around, blasting its own launcher but the other speeds toward us.

"Marina!" Rookie shouts.

Marina holds her arm out and the missile drops, blasting the mountain below us. Then, she returns to healing Hawkeye. I smile, then look back at the flames as they start to move, spreading toward our attackers. They reach the other missile launcher and a moment later it explodes. The soldiers retreat as the flames pursue them, destroying every vehicle they reach. Finally, they stop and we all sigh in relief, sitting back.

"I'm not liking the locals much," Hawkeye grumbles, finally healed.

We're all silent for a few minutes before turning and continuing up the mountain. As we walk, Marina pulls a small tree branch from her Chest and holds it out while walking backward. Trees start to reach out with their roots and branches, completely blocking the road.

"Nice," I grin and she smiles sheepishly.

"Just wanted to be of help," she admits.

"You are," I assure her. "You're a massive help. Most of us are still alive because of you. Honestly, it feels like every time we fight someone you end up having to save my life. I think I'm cursed."

"No you're not," she says resting a hand on my shoulder. "You just have really, really bad luck."

"Wish I had telekinesis," I snort. "Then I could keep myself from being shot."

She smiles then returns to blocking the road. After a while, we stop for a break at a stream surrounded by flat boulders. I refil my canteen and after a minute, Marina kneels down next to me, splashing water on her face and neck. She cups her hands, getting some water to drink. Before she can, Commander Sharma wades into the water and announces we need to continue. Marina sighs and stands and I pass her my Canteen as we walk. She smiles and takes a drink before passing it back and I put it away. As we walk, the trail groes steeper and much slicker. Crayton tries running for momentum but slips and goes down hard.

"This is impossible," Crayton says. "We need to cut through the forest to get traction."

"Out of the question," Sharma says. "We will not overcome our obstacles by running away from them. Speed does not matter, only that we do not stop."

"Marina, let me see your Chest," I say and I could swear there's a flash of red across her face before she realizes what I mean and holds it out.

I set it on my right shoulder and she holds out the branch, growing roots and branches across the path so we can continue. And so we do. It's not easy, especially since we're more climbing than walking and I have only one hand, but we make it after a while. From there, Six starts to scout ahead as we walk. Eventually, we reach a fork, which Sharma promptly states is new.

"How can it be new?" Crayton asks. "Both paths look exactly the same and equally well-travelled."

"I promise there was no left trail before," Sharma states. "We are close to Lord Vishnu now. We go this way."

He starts to walk down the right side but doesn't make it far before Ella speaks up.

"Wait," sh says. "The glasses won't let me see anything down that path. Just a dark nothingness."

Six and Sharma begin to argue about which way to go and I sigh, looking down and shaking my head. There's something under my foot, poking out on the side. I move my foot and grin.

"Hey," I say, getting their attention. "It is left."

Marina walks over, looking down at the "8" carved into the ground at the mouth of the path. She nods and we start down the path, the others following. Soon, the path begins to ascend and gets rocky. Then, water starts to run down the path. It grows deeper rapidly and soon we're walking through a river. I look to the others but they're just as confused as I am.

"Maybe we were wrong," Ella says. "Maybe it was the other path after all."

"No, this is good," Sharma says, running his hand along the surface of the water. "This is a sign I've seen before."

Before anyone can respond, the current picks up and it gets deeper again. Soon, it's up to Ella's waste and it's difficult to keep our balance. Marina slips but I catch her around the waste, steadying her. Then, suddenly, the water drops. The ground levels out and the water that remains opens into a large pool. On the far side, a jagged wall ov stone rises with four separate waterfalls falling from it into the pool. In the center of the pool is a boulder of white stone with a gleaming blue statue of a man with four arms and a crown sitting on top. Each hand holds something. One holds a pink flower, one a white shell, one a gold wand, and one a blue CD-looki g disk.

"Vishnu," I guess and Sharma nods.

I turn, looking around. There are trees around the clearing and a good distance of shore between them and the water. Just as I look back at the boulder, Ella shouts what I see. The statue's gone.

* * *

Read and review.


	8. Chapter 8

I do not own Lorien Legacies or any of the characters.

* * *

Eight

We stare at the being as it falls. Well, more floats than anything. When it hits the water, it passes into it without so much as a ripple. Then, it stays down there.

"I'll go first," Marina volunteers, being the only one capable of breathing underwater.

"Be careful," I mutter and she nods before diving in. Six turns, grinning at me, as does Hawkeye.

"Boy, could you be any more transparent?" Six grins.

"Shut up," i grumble, turning away.

"I'm actually quite impressed she hasn't figured it out yet," Hawkeye chuckles. "I mean really. You've been doing everything but drooling over her since we met up again. Hell, ever since she saved us the first time."

"Shut up," I growl, struggling to keep my temper in check. "You don't know anything."

"Oh is that right?" Hawkeye grins. "I don't know you? I don't know that you haven't tried to pick up a chick the entire time I've known you? Boy, you fell in-"

I wheel around, grabbing him by the front of his shirt and spin again, hurling him. He lands in a roll, grunting but not hurt. He lays there, staring at me for a moment.

"You don't understand," I growl. "I'm not...I can't...nevermind. Just keep your fucking mouths shut."

The others stare at me in confusion until Marina returns to the surface a moment later.

"What happened?" Six asks.

"She passed," Sharma states from where he is seated in lotus position a little distance away.

"What do you mean she passed?" Crayton demands. "That was one of his tests?"

"Who's next?" Sharma asks, pointing to the top of the waterfall.

We all turn and look, seeing a giant bearded man with a massive axe. Six wades into the water up to her knees, determined to get it over with.

"Me," Six says.

The figure walks to the third waterfall and dives in, this time making a huge splash before swimming toward Six. As he approaches her, he emerges from the water, axe held high above his head. Six doesn't react at all until he swings at her. She sidesteps the axe then kicks the handle, breaking it. The man swipes at her with what's left but Six ducks under the strike then kicks the man in the knee cap, causing him to howl in pain.

"Way to go Six!" Marina cheers.

Then, Six picks up the fallen portion of the handle not holding an axe blade and swiped at the man, but he is gone before the handle hits.

"What the hell was that? Six demands.

"You passed," I guess. "But I think I know how these tests work."

"How?" Six asks.

Before I can answer, a deafening roar rings out as a third creature rises from the water. This one is ten feet tall with the head of a lion and a total of ten muscular arms, five per side. It roars again, shaking water from its mane as it marches toward Ella.

"No," Crayton growls stepping in front of her. "You're not ready for this. It's too much."

"I can do it," Ella says, pushing the glasses on again.

Suddenly, all ten fists flash toward her at once. She ducks under them, allowing the tree behind her to take the hit, bits of wood flying past her and hitting the creature in the face and chest. It pulls its arms back and begins to try again, a few arms at a time, but Ella avoids everything, each punch that hit the tree creating a crater.

They begin to move around the tree but suddenly, Ella shrieks, "Oh no! What have I done?"

Before anyone has time to react, the treak groans and begins to fall. Before it can crush the creature, it, once again, vanishes. The tree does, however, manage to swipe Ella's glasses off of her face and crush them.

"Marina I'm so sorry," Ella apologizes. "I knew they were going to be broken but I couldn't do anything to stop it."

"Don't worry about that Ella," Marina smiles. "What's important is that you're okay."

"That was amazing," Six ads.

"Congratulation," Sharma says, standing. You've just defeated three of Lord Vishu's avatars. Now we await Lord Vishnu's arrival."

"We're done waiting," Craytan growls. "He'd better show himself fast."

"Chill chill chill," a voice says from the tall grass of to the side. "The commander was just following my orders. I was being cautious. I needed to make sure you were who you claim to be. I've been waiting a long time to meet you."

We turn and stare at the statue of Vishnu, alive and smiling.

"Teleportation and shapeshifting," I speak up. "Am I wrong?"

"Very good," the statue nods. "Yes, I'm a shapeshifter and a teleporter. How did you know?"

"The avatars never actually lost," I said. "They disappeared at the last second. And then the next would appear a moment later. Including this statue form."

Eight claps and nods, grinning.

"Very observant," Eight commends. "You are very unlike any human I've ever met."

"So, Number Eight, right?" Six asks.

The statue stares at her for a moment before his skin turns a copper tan, his black hair grows into a mop of curls, his crown falls off, and twor of his arms vanish. He wears a glowing green pendent around his neck and pulls his ankle up, displaying three circular scars.

"My Cêpan originally named me Joseph, though I've had many names," Eight states. In this region, I'm known as Naveen. But yes. I am Number Eight."

"It's nice to finally meet you Number Eight," Crayton says offering his hand. "We've come a long way to find you. I'm Ella's Cêpan."

"I'm Ella, Number Ten," Ella introduces herself and Eight stares at her.

"Whoa, what do you mean you're Ten?" Eight asks. "There were only nine of us. Who said you were Ten?"

Ella suddenly shrinks doen to six years old but Crayton taps her and she returns to twelve. Eight grins, growing a few feet.

"That all you got Ten?"

Ella looks like she's concentrating for a minute before shrugging. "I guess so."

"I'll fill you in later but there was a second ship that made it off of Lorien and she was on it," Crayton says.

"Is that it, or is there a Number Thirty-two I should know about?" As he spoke, Eight shrunk back down and smiled. Despite the sarcastic comments, his voice remains kind.

Off to the left, in the corner of my vision, I see Marina nervously tuck her hair behind her ear, glancing at Eight a few times. I feel my teeth and the muscles in my back clench. I turn, walking to the water and staring down at my reflection. I've got dirt everywhere and my clothes are torn with dried blood where I had been shot and on my knee. My blond hair has grown out, and while it's still short on the sides and dowesn't look too different from before, I still feel like I need a haircut. I'm not seeing my reflection right now though. I'm seeing some of my past. Parts I prefer not to revisit.

After a moment, Hawkeye steps up beside me, giving me an apologetic and sympathetic look. "Sorry for earlier. I didn't mean...I'm sorry."

"Forget it," I say. "It's done. It doesn't matter anymore."

Hawkeye stays silent so I turn back to the others. Just as I do, Eight, who's currently skipping along the surface of the water, skids to a stop, sending a wave of water at Marina. She uses her Telekinesis to redirect it at him. He blew it into the air like a geyser and a moment later, the wind spontaniously kicks up, creating a wall of water on three sides of Eight, courtesy of Six.

"What else you got?" Six shouts over the wind.

Eight flashes a grin and is suddenly on top of the jagged rocks. Then, he's about an inch in front of Six. On muscle reflex she drives a fist into his ribs and he grunts, staggering backward.

"Six what are you doing?" Marina gasps.

"Sorry, it was a reflex," Six says.

"I deserved it," Eight assures them both.

"Teleportation is so cool," Marina says just before Eight appears beside her, leaning on her shoulder.

"I'm a fan of it," Eight grins.

Marina giggles and my stomach drops. I feel Hawkeye's eyes flash over to me but I ignore him. I force myself to keep a neutral expression, though, judging from her expression, Six sees through it instantly. Fortunately, or maybe not, Marina is too distracted by Eight to notice. Then, he reappears on Crayton's shoulder, arms out to keep his balance.

"Sometimes I pick stupid places to land though," Eight says.

Joy. A commedian. I suddenly wish Chad was still alive. It had been a while since I thought about him. After a moment, Crayton leans forward and Eight flips to the ground, landing on his feet and clapping.

"Where's your Cêpan?" Marina asks.

Eight's expression grows serious instantly. I glance at Marina and see sorrow on her face, and suddenly I'm thinking about Adelina. Adelina fighting a Mogadorian with a kitchen knife. Adelina, who had never properly trained Marina. Adelina who tackled a Piken off of a cliff to protect Marina, then fell with it. Her body would probably still be where it landed, if no animals had desided to clean it up. I suddenly feel guilty for not killing the Piken before she tackled it, and for not making sure she got a proper burial. I look to Marina again and can't remember her having grieved for the loss of her Cêpan.

"Com on," Eight says, turning to the tall grass on which side, which parts before him. "The light is going. I'll tell you about Reynolds and Lola when we get there."

"What about me?" Sharma asks. "What should I do? Please tell me."

"Commander," Eight says, voice even. "You have been a loyal friend to me and I would like to thank you and your soldiers for all your hard work. Vishnu would be happy with your devotion. But this is where we must part ways."

"But...I don't understand," Sharma says. "I've done everythi g you asked. I brought you your friends. My men died for you."

"I never wanted anyone to die," Eight states. "That's why I refused to leave the mountain and walk in the streets with you. Believe me, I know what it's like to lose people, more than you will ever understand. But this is where we must go our separate ways."

"But..."

"Goodbye, Commander," Eight cuts him off.

"You're leaving me," the commander says after a time.

"No," Eight says. "You're leaving me. A wise man once told me that only by leaving someone good, can you meet someone better. You will be with your Vishnu. But only after I am gone."

Sharma opens his mouth to speak but remains silent. Eight begins walking and everyone hesitates.

"Hey! Wait!" Crayton shouts after a moment. "The base of the mountain is the other way! We need to get to the airport!"

"First, I need to show you all something," Eight responds, stoppi g and looking back. "And we may not need an airport."

He continues walking and Crayton speaks up again. "Where are you going? There are things that you don't know yet! We need to sit down and talk. We need to make a plan!"

Eight simply continues walking. After a moment, we follow, Ella and Marina first, followed by Hawkeye, then Crayton, then Rookie, then me and Six. As we walk, everyone remains silent. My eyes watch the trees for a bit but after a bit, the trees thin until it would be hard to hide in them. My eyes drift to Marina. I see Six catch me staring and make a sympathetic face before my eyes fall to the ground and memories once again begin to play behind my eyes. I can already tell. I'm not sleeping tonight.

* * *

Read and review.


	9. Chapter 9

I do not own Lorien Legacies or any of the characters.

* * *

Long Night

I roll over, staring up at the stars. I find my hand instinctively reaching out toward a hand that hasn't been there for better than two years. I stop my hand, letting it rest flat on the ground and feel the breeze cooling the tears on my cheeks. I sit up, looking around silently. No one else is moving, except Eight, who is tossing and turning like he's having a bad dream. My eyes drift across the hut to Marina, who's lying facing away from me, and feel my jaw clench again. I silently stand, making my way out of the hut and sit on the edge of the cliff we're on.

On the way, Eight had told us about how a human was bought off by the Mogadorians to get Eight's Cêpan to fall for her then lead them to a Mogadorian trap. Once there, the Mogadorians killed the human, Lola, Eight's Cêpan, Reynolds, and stole Eight's Chest. Then, we had reached the hut Eight had been living in and made ourselves all fit. Sure enough, memories of my past had kept me awake.

I turn and look back, seeing Marina kneeling beside the fire, trying to get it going enough to keep Eight warm as he was clearly cold. Then, she paused, gently stroking his hair as she was lost in thought. I turn away, accidentally brushing several stones along the ground. It's not enough to wake anyone, but Marina hears and is startled out of her thoughts. After a moment, she sits beside me.

"You couldn't sleep either?" She asks.

"I suspect it's for a different reason," I mumble, still partially lost in thought. "How are you doing?"

"What do you mean?" Marina asks.

"In the past few days, your entire life was flipped on end, and you lost both Héctor Ricardo and Adelina," I say.

She opens her mouth to speak but no words come out. After a moment, her shoulders shudder for a moment and I pull her against myself, allowing her to cry on my shoulder. Her arms snake around my waist as she quietly cries against me. Finally, she pulls back, wiping her eyes.

"How...how did Adelina..."

"I tried to kill the Piken with my explosive ammo, I really did," I say, guilt filling me at the memory. "But, the ammo wasn't doing enough. I say you fall, and then the Piken almost followed. But then, you screamed. I just...it all happened so fast. One minute the Piken was roaring down at you, the next Adelina was tackling it over the edge in order to keep it from getting at you. I'm sorry. I should have stopped her. I should have killed the thing while I had the chance. I should have done something."

"There's nothing you could have done," Marina says, resting a hand on my arm. "You tried to kill it right? So then, it's not your fault that she died. She sacrificed herself. There's no reason for you to feel guilty."

I stare at the ground for a moment before smiling, in spite of myself.

"You're so strong," I mumble.

"No, I'm not," Marina says. "I'm no where near strong compare to Six, or Eight."

"That's not what I meant," I say. "But you're strong that way too."

"I'm not," Marina says.

"Marina, you can throw things with your mind," I snort. "You can breathe underwater and you can heal people. I'd be dead a dozen times over without you. Hawkeye and Rookie too. I wish I could do half the things you can. I wish I could protect...anyway. what I was actually talking about is the fact that you've lost nearly everything you've known in a matter of days, and yet whatever happens you keep fighting. You give everything you do one hundred percent and you always still have the energy and strength to take the time to make sure those around you are alright.

"I was trained to be a hardened killing machine, capable of doing whatever it takes to protect those around me, and to fight wars without breaking or being defeated. But...in the end, I'm still weak. I can shoot a playing card from a thousand meters with a carbine, and I can hit a quarter from half a mile with a sniper rifle, but when it comes to things like stress, or loss, or...I'm hopeless. I fall apart at the slightest mention of things I don't want to talk about. At the ghost of a memory of what I've lost, I lose the will to fight. Almost the will to live."

"Talk to me," she urges. "Maybe you need to stop bottling up your emotions. Maybe, you just need to talk about it."

"That's the thing, I have," I say. "I took counselling for months. It didn't help."

"Then talk to me," Marina says. "As someone who's lost people I love, talk to me. Let me help."

I stare down at the water below for a long while. Maybe she's right and I should try talking again. Or, maybe I'm making a huge mistake by making myself so vulnerable, especially after last time.

"Alright," I finally nod. "Two years ago...I met a girl. She was everything to me. Within a week of knowing her, I didn't care about anything but her happiness. I'd have traded anything for her. But, one night, I came home from training and...the front door was off its hinges. I could hear her screaming, so I ran inside. I found her in the bedroom, surrounded by three guys." I feel my eyes start to burn. I try to hold it off, but I know it's inevitable. "I tried to fight them, I tried to save her. I managed to knock out two of them. But the third guy, he had a gun he tried to shoot me but, she shielded me, and was hit in the stomach." Tears start to fall, unbidden. "He wasn't finished, of course. He stood over her, had the gun aimed right at her. She begged me to save her. She was so sacred. But...I froze up. I was so afraid to lose her that...I just let her be shot again."

Marina covers her mouth, understanding what happened, at least, in part. By now I've given up on fighting my tears. I'm able to keep my voice down, but I can't stop myself crying.

"The shot tore her left lung and caused Hemopneumothorax," I say. "Blood and air were building up in her chest, constricting her lungs and suffocating her. I...I packed the wound, I gave her a needle decompression...I tried everything. But...I couldn't save her. The shooter, he just walked away, killed five more people before they caught him. If I had been stronger, if I could have protected her, or if I hadn't frozen, I could have saved them all."

Marina's arms wrap around me, and mine around her. She was right. It feels a little better to talk about it, but I'm not done my story yet.

"About six months later, I managed to move on," I continue, forcing myself to calm down enough to talk.

"You don't have to keep going if you don't want to," Marina says. "I don't want you to feel like I'm forcing you."

I smile, shaking my head.

"It's alright," I smile. "It helps a little. Anyway, I moved on. A girl named Krystal. She was a lot like Megan, maybe enough that it should have been frightening. But...I couldn't help it. I fell for her like I did Megan. But...one day, we were in a car accident. We flipped on the interstate. It was bad. The paramedics said it was a miracle I made it out with only a severe concussion and a broken arm. But...Krystal...Krystal was ejected from the vehicle. Then the vehicle caught up to her. When we were found, they could only find about three fourths of her. The rest had been crushed into past by the car."

I see Marina fight down a gag at the thought and I swallow hard, refraining from telling her about Krystal's face being removed, or holding her degloved hand trying to beg her corpse not to die.

"A few months later, I fall in love again," I continue. "Apparently I'm not very bright. This time, she can tell there's something off about me. She keeps pressuring me and prying until I tell her what happened to the others." I see Marina is waiting for me to retell a story of some gruesome death. "The next time I came home, she was gone. She left a note saying that she didn't want to be a part of my curse. That she had no intention of dying some horrible death for being with me. But...the next day it annou ced on the news that the plane she had been on had crashed."

Marina's jaw fell open. I stared up at the stars again.

"Maybe she was right," I say quietly, as much to myself as her. "Maybe I am cursed. So far everyone I've fallen in love with has died. I...I couldn't take it again. So I locked my heart away. I devoted every second I had to getting stronger, being able to protect the people that matter to me. I had thought, that maybe by doing so I could also rid myself of attachments. But it looks like I'm making my mistakes all over again. Letting people get too close to me. It already cost me a friend, back when the helicopter crashed. Then it cost you Héctor and Adelina."

"You're not cursed," Marina says sternly. "And you didn't cause anyone's death. People die. That's a part of nature. The Mogadorians killed Héctor and Adelina. The shooter killed Megan, and Krystal and that other girl died in accidents. So did your friend. You're not to blame. And you are strong."

"Marina, every battle we've been in, you've had to save my life. Maybe it would be better for everyone if..."

"No!" Marina snaps. "You're not dying as long as I can save you. I won't let you commit suicide."

I stare at her for a moment before an image of the way she had looked at Eight when we first met him, and then just a minute ago when she thought no one was awake, flashed through my head, and my eyes fall to the ground.

"I can't be happy," I finally mumble. "That's my curse, my cross to bare. No matter what I do, my happiness ends in someone being hurt, usually worse."

Marina sighs and pulls me into a hug. I don't resist, but I don't hug her back either. After a few minutes, she pulls back as the others begin to stir. I wince from guilt. I had successfully robbed her of sleep.

* * *

Read and review.


	10. Chapter 10

I do not own Lorien Legacies or any of the characters.

* * *

Found

I stand up, stretching as Marina walks over to wish the others a good morning. As they discus our next move, Marina has trouble taking her eyes off of Eight. After a bit, Eight picks up a stick, twirling it in his hand before six kicks it, flipping it into the air to herself then tossing it back. Eight makes a big show of dodging the stick and I see jealousy flash across Marina's face. Apparently, she thinks they're flirting.

"Do we have enough money to buy us all tickets?" Eight asks after a moment, pulling me back to reality.

"That shouldn't be a problem," Crayton says, patting his pocket.

"Great," Eight nods. "Then we head back to New Delhi and get on a plane and be in the United States in a day or so. Or, we could be in the state of New Mexico in just a few short hours."

"We can't all teleport," Six points out, dragging her toe through the dirt.

"Maybe we can," Eight grins, reaching his own foot over and turning the circle six dres into a smiley face. They grin at each other. "We just need to take a short walk and then it's a simple matter of a giant leap of faith."

"Sounds a lot faster than a plane," Ella speaks up. "And a whole lot cooler."

"How many can you teleport at once?" I speak up, deciding to be the one to ask for details, since no one else is going to. "Have you ever tried to find out?"

"Not really," Eight said. "But that's why it's a leap of faith."

"You've got our attention," Craytan says, lifting Marina's Chest up onto his shoulder. "You need to show us what you're talking about."

Eight holds up a hand, then pulls off his shirt and pants. "Not before my morning swim."

And with that, he turns, sprinting to the edge of the cliff and dive in. Marina runs after him and after a moment, dives in after him.

"Did he just..." Rookie trails off as Hawkeye nods.

"So much for public decency," I grumble.

"Well he has been living in the mountains most of his life," Hawkeye points out. He grins and opens his mouth but thinks better of it and closes it again.

Six does not.

"You're just mad that the girl you like is swimming around with a naked Eight, rather than you," Six grins.

Before I can respond, Six sprints to the edge and leaps off, landing between Eight and Marina. After a moment, she drags Eight under and they start to wrestle.

"We should probably head down," Hawkeye states.

I nod and we start to walk down a path off to one side. The night before, we had all gotten flown up by Telekinesis. This time, everyone with that power is distracted. We make our way to the shore just as Six and Eight walk out of the water, though Marina is nowhere to be seen. After a moment, Eight sits off to one side and Six walks over to me. Hawkeye and Rookie both go to relieve themselves in the trees and Ella starts to twirl Eight's walkinf stick like a batton, or bo staff while Crayton watches.

"You know, you're not very good at sticking up for yourself," Six says.

"What do you mean?" I ask.

"I can only run interference so long," Six says. "If you're going to make a move, you need to do it soon."

"Oh," I sigh. "I'm not."

"And why the hell not?" Six demands.

"Because she'll get hurt," I say. "Just like everyone else. If she's with Eight, she's safe. Eight can protect her."

Six opens her mouth to respond just as Marina surfaces, grinning from ear to ear.

"There you are! Where'd you go?" Eight calls out.

"Come on Marina!" Six calls out, flashing me an exasperated look. "We gotta go!"

Marina holds up a slime-covered Chest, dirty water and slime pouring out all over her. We all stare at the chest in shock. Where the Hell did she find that? She floats it over to Eight who teleports to it, hugging it, then teleports back to the ground.

"I can't believe it," Eight breaths. "All this time it was right here?"

"It was in a Mog ship at the bottom of the lake," Marina says, climing out of the water.

Just as she gets on dry land, Eight appears in front of her, less than an inch away. Then, he picks her up, kissing her. I freeze. For half a second, my face contorts and I suck in a breath, feeling as though someone had punched me. Then, I force my face back to a neutral expression and turn, walking toward the trees. I can feel everyone except Marina and Eight's eyes on me, but then I disappear into the trees. Once I'm far enough to not be heard, I shout in rage, fist flashing up and shattering against a tree before my shin does the same thing out of frustration. Great. Now I've crippled myself.

"You're not too bright are you?" Six's voice asks from behind me.

"Don't start Six," I growl. "Just don't."

"I'm not here for that," Six says. "I'm sorry, though. I actually came to find you because we need to get going. Though, I'll have to get you back to our medic first now."

I sigh and nod and Six turns, walking away, carrying me with her Telekinesis, keeping me turned so nothing touches my broken hand or leg. Finally, we reach the beach and Six sets me down in front of Marina, who gasps in surprise before starting to heal me.

"What happened?" She asks.

"I tripped," I lie, quite obviously. "Leg got caught under a tree. Then I got smart and punched a tree out of frustration." Half true.

Marina doesn't believe me but she doesn't press. After a moment, I'm healed and Eight starts to lead us up a mountain. There's a blanket of snow on everything and the wind is strong but Six keeps those out of our way. We're still freezing though. Eight and Crayton begin to discuss Eight's visions of Setrákus Ra, the Mogadorian leader, and Eight tells us about his most recent, where he saw a friend of his in chains. Then, Six states that John, Number Four, sees Setrakus Ra as well. After a few more minutes of discussing the dreams and their meaning, our path ends at a cliff face. No way we're climbing that.

"Now what?" Six asks. "There's no way we can climb straight up to the peak. There don't seem to be many other options, though."

Eight points at a paoir of boulders and they separate, revealing a stairway leading into the mountain. I stare at it for a moment before reaching back and pulling my Tavor out of my pack, Hawkeye and Rookie getting their M4s out as well. There will be nowhere to run if we're attacked. And we're overdue for one, it feels like.

We all head up the stairs, me at the front with Marina and Eight, and Hawkeye in the back with Rookie and Six. I instantly feel trapped. Finally, we enter into a large rock cavern and spread out, Hawkeye and Rookie staying by the door. On the other side of the cavern are two verticle lines five feet apart with a small blue triangle between them and three curved lines horizontally above it.

"Is that supposed to be a door?" Six asks.

"It's not supposed to be a door, it is a door," Eight says. It's a door to the far cor ers of the Earth.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I ask.

"At best, I can teleport two hundred feet," Eight explains. "Maybe two fifty. But my accuracy suffers. I once tried to teleport to the top of a tree a couple hundred feet away and ended up between a mountain lion and her cubs. My teleportation legacy is great, and has been immeasurably useful, but it's not exactly long range. But from inside this cave, I can teleport around the world."

"How?" Crayton asks.

"The best I can tell, this was a Loric place once, maybe a Loric headquarters. I was lucky enough to find it, and luckier still to figure out what I can do here. But I'm definitely not the first Loric here."

As soon as the words are out of his mouth, Hawkeye and Six are headed back down the stairs, Six going with them.

"Are you nuts!?" I demand, Eight looking taken aback. "Are mentally insane? Mogadorians are hunting Lorics! And you think it's a good idea to lead a group of them to a known Loric hideout, WITH ONLY ONE EXIT!?"

"Two exits," Eight corrects.

"You don't even know that you can teleport us all!" I snap. "For all you know, you might only be able to teleport one at a time!"

"Then I'll be back," Eight shrugs.

"What if they attack while you're gone?" I ask. "We'll die, Eight! If we stay here and there's an attack and we have to wait for you, we all die!"

"You're right," Eight sighs. "I'm sorry."

"Let's just get inside so we can get out of here," Marina speaks up.

Eight turns to the door, holding his pendant up to the triangle. After a moment, the lines around it deepen and extend toward each other. Once they meet and form the outline of a doorway, the right side separates and swings open, a blue glow reaching us from inside. Hawkeye, Six, and Rookie return and none look pleased.

"It's quiet outside," Rookie says. "No animal."

"We need to make this quick," I growl. Go get ready to get out of here. We'll cover your backs. Call us when you're ready to get out."

Eight nods and they all head through the door and up a second staircase. My team and I take up positions in the door and the cavern before it, usuing boulders around the outside of the room as cover. It's silent. I glance to Hawkeye who looks less than pleased with the way things stand. We're trapped with no sure escape plan. I'm not thrilled either. We sit in silence, weapons aimed at the doorway. The tension is so thick it's suffocating. Sweat starts to form on my forehead and temples. I try to calm myself, tell myself we're wrong. At that moment, the wall off to the left explodes, fire shooting past and up the stairs. Ella screams from inside. I scream where I am. My left hand is burned from the explosion and a Mogadorian blaster had managed to score a hit on my shoulder.

I hear someone shouting my name. Then, Eight appears beside me. I grab him and pull him down just as several shots fly past.

"Thanks," Eight says.

"Get Hwkeye and Rookie upstairs!" I shout over the sounds of my team and the Mogadorians shooting at each other. "I'll follow!"

Eight nods, teleporting to them before returning to me. Before I can react, it feels like my stomach is in my feet. For a moment, Rookie's hand is on my arm. Then, I'm falling. I land hard beside Ella just as the ceiling collapses above us. The debris stops, flying away from us and Marina sprints forward, beginning to heal me.

"They found us," I groan. "And teleporting several people is not going to end well."

Just as I'm finished healing, Hawkeye and Rookie begin shooting down the stairs. After less than a minute, they run down them. I jump up, following, and when I catch up in the main room, they're in a massive firefight. I sprint out the door, rolling under a barrage of fire from both sides, stopping behind a boulder. I lean out, spraying bullets at the hole. Ash blew in as Hawkeye and Rookie joined me in flooding the hole with bullets. After several minutes, the Mogadorians flee. We finally return to the room upstairs.

As we arrive, Crayton begins back toward the others with the chests. At that moment, one of the walls explodes inward and Mogadorians begin to fire through the hole. Eight uses his Telekinesis to deflect the debris and blaster fire while Hawkeye, Rookie and I blast the Mogadorians. Six steals a Mogadorian blaster and begins firing out through the hole. After a moment, another explosion shakes the room before a flaming Mogadorian ship crashes into the mountain next to the hole. A Mogadorian in the cockpit begins to try to escape but before he can, Marina slams two boulders together with the Mogadorian between them. Then, a rocket enters the cave, exploding against the wall next to Crayton. He lands in a heap next to a glowing stone the size of a basketball and the Chests skid across the ground. Even as Ella and Marina race toward him, I can already tell it's too late.

By now, most of the cave is gone, leaving us exposed. There's no way Eight will be making multiple trips for us. We don't have time. Six and Eight race over to Ella and Marina and me and my team take cover along the remains of the wall, keeping the Mogadorians from getting to us. But there are a lot. A full company, if not more. They slowly make their way closer, taking cover and rushing in buddy pairs the same way we were taught to.

"We can't hold them!" Hawkeye shouts to the others.

"Get over here!" Eight shouts.

Hawkeye and Rookie sprint over just as a rocket sails overhead, blasting an entire wall out. From our walk up, I remember there being a two thousand foot drop on the other side. I look up as two Mogadorian ships streak toward us. I open fire, my bullets bouncing off with a musical ring. Six throws me the Mogadorian blaster and I drop my rifle, which gets a rock jammed in the barrel, though the rifle itself is useless anyway in this situation. I fire up at the ships again and the blasts begin to punch through the ships. A moment later, both explode into flaming debris and rain down on the Mogadorians. Then, I sprint to the others. Just as I arrive, six grabs my hand and everything goes black, my stomach lurching again.

* * *

Read and review.


	11. Chapter 11

I do not own Lorien Legacies or any of the characters.

* * *

Separated

My body burns. My left arm and ankle both scram in pain. Sand fills my mouth and the ground is so hot it hurts. I open my right eye, since it's the higher of the two, and my vision is too blury to make out anything, but judging by the color, my blaster landed at least near me.

I close my eye again, reaching out toward it. After a moment, my fingers brush it. I groan, dragging myself toward it. My ankle and arm flare, badly. I grab my rifle, using it to push myself up. I open my eyes, my vision swimming but slowly focusing. I look down. My left arm is covered in road rash from my shoulder to the tips of my fingers and my left ankle is swollen, probably sprained. I use my rifle to limp my way to the top of the sand dune that forms a bowl around me and look around. In front of me, sand. To the left, sand. Behind, sand. On the right, sand. Overhead, clear, cloudless blue skies and a blazing sun directly above me that leaves the air around me a hundred something degrees of suffocating dry heat.

I look down from the sky just as a figure climbs into view on a sand dune well over eight hundred meters away. Six. I raise the blaster, firing into the sand dune at her feet. She spins, hands up to defend herself but I wave the blaster over my head. After a moment, she waves back and starts down the dune toward me. I begin to make my way down the dune as well, going around them whenever I can. We meet about a quarter of the way from my spot to hers after about five minutes. Once we get there, I groan and sit down. Six sighs and puts her hands on her hips, bending forward.

"How'd you end up so far away?" Six asks.

"Did you land right on the big rock chunk?" I ask, not in the mood to talk about why I got spit out so far from Six.

"No," Six sighs. "Good point. But, what about the others?"

"Clearly Eight can only successfully teleport two at once," I sigh. "I would like to know where the others ended up."

"You mean you want to know if Marina is okay," Six corrects me.

"Yes Six!" I snap. "You caught me! I want to know if Marina is safe! I want to know that she wasn't left in that cave! Or dropped off in the middle of a Movadorian scouting party at another sight! Hell, if I'm being selfish, I want Telekinesis so that I can protect her for a change instead of relying on her to save my life every time we fight one Mog! I want to be able to protect her from my curse! But so far, that's proven impossible!"

"James, what are you talking about?" Six asks. "What curse?"

I groan, standing and turning away. Then, I sigh, staring at the ground again.

"Every person I've ever fallen in love with has died," I sigh. The first was merdered, begging me for help, but...I froze. I watched her die, even though I could have saved her. The second died in a car accident. And the last in a plane crash."

"That's why you got so mad before, isn't it?" Six asks. "And why you wouldn't make a move."

"I can't protect Marina," I mutter. "But...Eight can. I'm just a liability. Especially from wherever the fuck we are."

"I think we're in New Mexico," Six sighs, allowing me to change the subject. "So, we're where we wanted to go."

"Do you know where we're going?" I ask.

Six walks to the top of a sand dun, looking around. Then, she slides back down to me.

"There are some mountains in the distance but it'll be days before we get there on foot," Six sighed. "To my memory, the mountains should be north."

"Did you happen to see any water?" I sigh. "We'll need it in this heat."

"I wish there were something I could use to create a storm," Six sighs. "Wind, clouds, anything."

"We're out of luck it looks like," I grumble. "I don't suppose you can help me walk."

Six sighs and takes my left arm over her shoulder, careful not to touch my road rash. Then, we start to make our way north. With the sun direcrly overhead, there's no shade anywhere. In minutes we're starting to dehydrate. We continue staggering forward, checking the sky for clouds periodically for clouds. None. Ever. Finally we reach the top of a large dune and stop. There's a town in the distance. Still far, but closer than the mountains that remain little more than a slightly darker silhouette than the sky around them. Forget days. It'll take a week or more to get there.

"We'll rest in the town," I mumble. "Continue at night, when it's cool."

Six nods and we continue to stagger toward the town. When we get there, we stare. The buildings are ruins, all crumbling and reclaimed by the desert. We head into the most complete and sturdy ruin then Six leaves, searching around the town for water. I reach into my pack and pull out my canteen but it's empty. Besides that are a few knives, a handful of full magazines for my Tavor, and a couple of FRAG-12s. An idea occurs to me.

"No wells," Six sighs.

"Could you turn the concussion of an explosion into wind, and use it to make a storm?" I ask.

"Maybe," Six shrugs. "You have an idea?"

I nod, taking all of my bullets out and having Six use her Telekinesis to take the projectile out, pouring the powder in a pile with the FRAG-12s on top. Then, she and I make our way away from them and I sight in with the blaster. One shot later, a massive fireball demolishes several buildings, sending a wall of wind at us. Six raisez her hands and the wind slowly dies down. At the last second, however, it pauses and begins to strengthen again.

After a moment, clouds begin to form overhead. I pull out my canteen as it starts to rain. For a moment, it doesn't help. Then, I hear a zipper and turn around, seeing Six holding my back pack out. I remember that it's mostly waterproof and smile. After fifteen minutes, the storm dissipates, and Six sits against the wall, still holding the, now full, bag. I walk over, taking the bag and pass her the canteen. Then, I hold the bag open while she dips the canteen into the water and holds it there until it's full before taking it out and sipping at it.

I set the bag off to the side carefully and sit beside her, looking up at the again cloud-free sky.

"We'll rest and rehydrate for a few hours," I say. "It'll be easier to travel at night, and you can dig us shelter with your telekinesis when the sun rises, right?"

Six nods and leans back, taking another sip before handing it over. I sip at it as well, stretching out my injured leg and sighing. It's going to be a long time before we leave New Mexico.

* * *

Read and review.


	12. Chapter 12

I do not own Lorien Legacies or any of the characters.

* * *

Interrogation

I stumble, my empty canteen falling into the sand. Six stops, allowing me to regain my balance before we continue. It's roughly three in the morning, and we're out of water. There isn't enough wind or clouds to manipulate, so we can't refill my pack. Aside from that, there's still no sign that we're making progress. Our bodies are cramping from dehydration and exhaustion, and we're barely staying on our feet.

"We can't make it to the mountains without water," Six says, voice hoarse.

"I know," I nod, voice just as bad as hers.

My backpack falls off my arm, landing on the ground, as the canteen and blaster before it. Finally, a solid metal gate comes into vies in the distance. We stagger toward it, having no better plan. When we reach it, we can hear the hum of electricity. The gate is twenth feet tall and topped with spiralling barbed wire. It's not the most inviting sight, but it's the best option we have.

"We could go around, try for the clouds and hope for water or clouds," I say.

"No," Six says. "We both know we won't make it. I don't even have the strength to make a storm now."

"If they're not hospitable, see if you can't get me a gun," I say and she nods.

We make our way to the gate and wave, trying to shout for help, but our voices don't allow much. Fortunately, there's a camera aimed at us. After a moment, Six pauses then lets out a short laugh before hanging her head.

"You know, I could swear I heard Ella just now," Six snorts.

Just then, the unmistakable chopping of helicopter blades begins to rise from inside the base. A moment later, three come into view and the gate opens, dozens of men in full combat gear sprint out, aiming at us.

"Should I?" Six asks.

"Too many," I sigh. "Let's work on getting out, rather than fighting an army. We can get our strength back inside."

Six nods as the men shout to put our hands over our head. Six sets me on my knees before we both place our hands on the backs of our heads. The men rush forward, putting cuffs on us before they haul us into the base. Within seconds there's a bag over myy head and then I feel something slam into the back of my head. I can't tell what, but it doesn't feel like a gun. When the resulting daze wears off, I'm lying down. I have the sensastion of moving side to side and my head is screaming in pain. Pretty sure I got tazed.

I try to lift my hand but it's tied down. I tap my fingers below me and realize it's metal. I groan. My voice echoes like I'm in a small metal box, like a coffin. Probably because I am. I lift my head and my forehead hits the top. I shift right, and my shoulder hits, same on the left. After a moment, a man's voice echoes into the box through a speaker.

"Are you awake?" The man asks.

"No," I say flatly.

He chuckles. "There is some water with a straw to your right. Drink."

I move my tongue around my mouth. It feels like cotton, but it's still managable. At worse, I'll hit heat stroke in a half hour. For now, I think I'll pass on the probably drugged water. Dehydration is nothing new to me.

"Pass," I say.

Big mistake. The box starts to warm. Within seconds it's suffocating and I'm sweating. I can feel my dehydration spiraling rapidly toward heat stroke.

"F...Fine!" I manage to choke out through my body's desire to vomit from the heat.

Air conditioners turn on, cooling off the inside of the box. After a moment, I turn my head, the straw hitting me in the nose. I reach up, catching it in my mouth and take a sip. It tastes aweful. And smells worse. Like the faucet it came from had bad pipes and mold. But it was water. And I could feel my dehydration going away. I take small sips. Drinking as little of whatever drug they put in the water as I can. After a couple of sips, I stop.

"Your name is James, right?" The man asks. "James Ireland?"

"Yes," I grunt.

"You've had quite a brush of misfortune," the man states. "Megan, Krystal, your parents, Jane, Your friend Chad Chadwick. It seems like you're cursed, wouldn't you agree? Being around you seems to be quite hazardous. Tell me, do you fear for your friend's safety? That girl you showed up with? Is she the next victim?"

"Are you accusing me or murder?" I growl. "Are you threatening her?"

"I would never," the man says. "I work for the American Government son. In fact, I'm partly responsible for you and your friends pulling off that little insanity charade. You should thank me. But that's not important now. It's the people you love who usually diefrom your curse, correct? Tell me, is that girl, Six was it?, next on the list? Tell me about her."

"Six?" I blink. How did this guy know she went by Six? "Six what?"

"Look Kid, I know she and her friends go by numbers," the man says. "Just like I know you know about them. Tell me, which have you met? Four? Five? Seven?" My face twitches, and my arms jerk against the restraints. In the dark, they don't know that. "Tell me what you know."

"Alright," I growl, throat starting to feel dry again. "I know that when me and my friend get out of here, everyone that tries to stand in our way will die. And I so pray you're in our way."

I risk taking a sip from the water as my throat starts to hurt.

"Tell me where the others are," the man says calmly.

"Have you checked your ass yet?" I grin. "I doubt they'd fit past your head but it's worth a shot."

I can almost envision the rage on his face when he speaks again.

"Listen here you little shit!" The man seethes. "Where are the others!? Where are the two girls and the boy!? The aliens? Hell, where are Clark Wayne and Jimmy Falcon?"

"You mean you don't know?" I ask, grinning from ear to ear. "They're fucking your mother."

"Do it!" The man snaps.

Suddenly, another voice echoes through the box. Six. Screaming in pain. I grit my teeth, clenching my fisfts and remaining silent.

"You okay?" I ask when she stops screaming.

"Don't tell them-" she screams again but her voice is cut instantly.

"Can do," I growl.

"We'll stop when you talk," the man growls.

"Trust me," I smirk. "Neither of us will talk."

"Is that right?" The man asks, and I can hear a grin in his tone. "How's Marina?"

My stomach drops. The man continues.

"She's number Seven, right?" The man asks. "Don't worry, we'll take good care of her."

I grit my teeth, forcing my rising panic to fall. They don't have Marina. If they did, she would have been visible in the desert before we reached the base. Marina is probably with Eight. She's safe.

"You're very quiet," the man says after a moment.

"Just letting your entertaining psychotic break play out," I say, forcing the worry out of my voice. "So, who's Marina?"

The michrophone goes dead and the box begins to heat up. I grit my teeth, ignoring it. The heat rises. Sweat pours from my body, evaporating instantly when it touches the box. Breathing gets harder and harder. Then, I can no longer force my body to take any air in. I feel like I'm having an asthma attack. Finally, I turn my head, taking a drink. The relief is immediate. I gasp for air, but the heat remains. I know what they want. They want me to drink it all. I reach over to drink, but before I can, my stomach rolls.

I don't even have time to consider holding it in before I'm vomitting. It splatters across the floor, also hitting the side of the glass and tipping it over. The smell hits me like a wall, and I wretch again, more bile and what little food was in my stomach splattering across the floor.

Suddenly, the movement stops. I can't breath. Every time I try to inhale the smell makes me vomit again. Then, I jerk into motion, shooting in the direction of my feet. Light fills my vision but before my eyes can adjust, something comes down on my nose, breaking it and knocking me unconscious again.

* * *

Read and review.


	13. Chapter 13

I do not own Lorien Legacies or any of the characters.

* * *

Tournament

I groan, opening my eyes. I'm in a cell. It's pretty large compared to what I had expected. There's a blanket on the floor, a toilet, and a nice cell door for me to look out through. There's an IV of water in my arm and my ankle has been splinted. My nose kills and my newly bandaged arm is in pain, but I'm alive, at least. I push myself up, hobbling to the door and looking out. There is a Mogadorian standing a little down the hall, eyes on my door. He grins, pointed teeth catching the light.

"Finally awake huh?" He says. "Good. Our master wants you questioned. And it's so much more fun when you're awake."

He starts forward and I back away. As soon as the door opens, however, I crash into his abdomen, tackling him to the floor. I manage to get myself behind him, wrapping my arms around his neck. He pulls out a dagger but before he can stab me, I catch his wrist. He starts to slowly force his arm down. At the last second, I turn the knife so that it's aime af his own side and stop pushing. The dagger plunges into his side, making him shout in pain before being reduced to ash. I push myself up, grabbing the blaster he had dropped and begin hobbling down the hallway, keeping the blaster ready.

Within a minute, a pair of Mogadorians sprint around the corner and explode into ash as they cross my sights. I hobble around the corner just as it gets peppered with blaster shots. I put a little distance then wait. A moment later, three sprint around the corner and I hit them with a spray of blasts, glad the blaster has a full auto setting. I turn, hobbling down the hallway to another door. I open it from the side and a blast shoots through. Then, I hold the gun in the doorway, spraying blasts into the room. I hear Mogadorians shouting but then it goes silent. I wait.

After a moment of silence, I carefully lie on the ground and crawl I to the room, hidden in a thick cloud of ash. Something mooves on my left. I roll onto my side, raising my rifle as a mogadorian steps out of the ash. I fire, hitting him in the face. Then, shots star to fly over me. The ash hid the exact angle of the shot but not where it started. I quickly crawl out of the way and stand against the wall. Then, I spray bullets all around the room, finishing any Mogadorians that were left. My eyes burn from the ash but I don't dare close them. After a moment, I turn, hobbling to the door out of the room that I didn't enter through.

I open it and wait. No blasts hit me. Good sign. I raise my rifle, slowly inching my way out of the room, into the hallway beyond and then out of the ash slowly entering the room. As soon as I see the hallway's clear, I begin to rub my eyes furiously, trying to clear the ash out of them. When I can see propperly again, I make my way down the hallway and to the door on the far end. When I open it, I find a surprised human on the other side.

He opens his mouth to shout but all that comes out is a grunt of pain as the butt of my gun dislocates his jaw and knocks him out. I drag him back into my hallway and then inch through the door, closing it behind me. On the other side is a long hallway ending in a "T" at the far end.

Before I can move, a group of humans walk past on the far end, surrounding Six. I freeze, afraid someone will look over at me. They don't once they's past, I inch forward, peeking around the corner just as they push six through a door and slam it shut. I grin. They're trapped between me and a wall.

I step out, spraying blasts at them. However, after a matter of seconds, my blaster stops firing, emitting a high whine. Apparently, they're not endlessly able to fire. That's alright. I'll trade it for one of the ones the humans are carrying. One of the two surviving humans raises a blaster but I throw mine, hitting him in the eye. The other human, a woman with red hair, several scrapes and bruises, and one arm in a sling, draws a pistol but I throw myself forward on my good foot, slamming her against the door. I grab her by the hair before she can react and slam my knee into the other human's nose, dropping him then, I slam the woman's face into the wall, knocking her out as well.

"Sorry," I say as I swipe her access card. "I try not to harm women."

I grab one of the fallen blasters that still works and use the card to open the door then hobble through. Inside, it's controlled chaos. Mogadorians are exploding into ash around the room. Then, in a trail heading toward a massive Mogadorian that can only be Setráks Ra. After a moment, he raises a fist and blue electricity flies off of his fist into the ceiling, and suddenly Six is visible. Mogadorians swarm her but continue to die. After a moment, Setrákus Ra sprints over, stopping beside her and grabs her by the throat, lifting her. I raise my rifle and squeeze off a shot. From where I am, I'm diagonally behind Setrákus Ra, and he doesn't see me fire. Not that it matters. My shot misses his head, hitting him in the bicep instead. He drops Six, staggering backward and roaring in rage.

Mogadorians charge at Six but I drop them with my blaster before they reach her. Sbe stands, picking up the Mogadorian sword she had stolen, then nods at me, turning back to Setrákus Ra. He spin, hand whipping out toward me then back and I'm suddenly flying through the air. When I land, I feel my injured ankle break. I roll over, seeing Mogadorians swarming toward Six. I fire, shooting through one into another. Both die. I fire again. Again I drop a Mogadorian. Then, three turn on me. I drop all three just before another lands in front of me, slashing the blaster out of my hands. I roll to the side as his sword drives itself into the ground where I had been. I kick out with my good foot and shatter the Mogadorian's knee. Then, I grab a dagger off the back of his coat and drive it into his head. I grab my blaster but it's completely ruined. I grab the sword, pulling myself up before beginning to use it as a crutch while I make my way toward the battle.

Two Mogadorians branch off, charging at me and I gulp. I stab the sword into the ground in front of myself, blocking the first sword and stabbing the Mogadorian in the heart with the dagger. Then, I duck under the next sword, spinning on my good leg, pulling the sword free and slashing the Mogadorian with it. He drops into a pile of ash and I turn in time for a sword to drive itself through my right shoulder. I stagger backward, dropping both weapons and collapsing as my injured foot hits the ground and explodes in pain. I take the sword with me, allowing me to keep it in place. A moment later, the Mogadorian explodes into ash. Six stands over me, looking worried.

"Kill that freak," I grunt, pushing myself up and grabbing my fallen blades. "Don't worry about me."

Six nods and turns, sprinting away. I look around. All of the soldiers are gone. Six charges at Setrákus Ra, who pulls out a double-heades wip and cracks it, the tails lighting up with flame.I start to limp toward Setrakus Ra from behind. He whips it again and sends a wave of flame out of the tails over Six, who ducks under it before standing, slashing at Setrákus. Setrákus whips the blade and it melts, falling apart. Setrákus uses Telekinesis to catch the hilt when Six hurls it at him. Then, he repairs the blade with Telekinesis. He drops the sword and Six lunges for it. Setrákus pulls his arm back, but before he can whip her, I drive my dagger into his side. He snarls, more in annoyance than pain, and reaches back, grabbing me by the head.

"I grow tired of you," Setrákus snarls.

Six slashes his calf and he swings me around, slamming me into Six and throwing us both before ripping out the dagger. When we land, the sword still in my shoulder is pushed most of the way out and Setrákus Ra uses Telekinesis to wrench it the rest of the way free, pulling it to himself. Six and I try to stand just as the whip tails lash out at Six. I step forward, raising my swrod crutch but the tails melt through it in the blink of and eye, swiping me across the stab wound on my shoulder, one in front, one on back. Rather than the pain I expect, my entire body goes numb. I look down and see that my shoulder and upper arm are suddenly encased in some kind of stone.

"W-What's going on!?" I stammer, falling to the ground without my crutch.

Six looks and gasps, before glaring at Setrákus. She charges forward again, sword held at the ready. Setrákus pulls his whip back and Six drives the sword into his rib cage then drags it downward to his abdomen before backing away. I force myself to my feet, hopping toward them as fast as I can. Setrákus Ra rips the blade out and studies it a moment before biting down on the blade and snapping it in half before dropping it to the ground and picking the one he had taken from me back up again. Then, he pulls it back and hurls it. At me.

It drives itself through my abdomen and this time, I can feel pain. A lot of it. However, the sword rips itself free almost instantly and returns to Setrákus. As I collapse, I land in an ash pile and feel something against my ribs. I pull it out and find it to be a blaster. I can't help but grin. I raise it, squeezing off a shot at Setrákus with my left arm, since my right isn't responding. The shot hits his whip arm, making him miss his intended target as he whips it at Six. He grunts in pain, looking over at me and pulls the sword back, hurling it again. It misses me by an inch, but makes me roll out of the way anyway. In that split second, I hear Six shout in surprise and frustration. I turn back to look and my eyes widen. He entire right hand is black, like my shoulder.

Six staggers backward and then freezes. She trembles for a moment before raising her face to look at Setrákus as he pulls out a golden cane with a black eye on one side.

"What did...you do?" I growl, trying to stand but my head going light.

"Relax," Setrákus growls. "She's not going to die, yet. Luckily for you, you won't either."

I blink in confusion and look down. A black rock now encases my entire torso and most of my right arm. Or rather, My torso and arm have become stone. The bleeding has stopped, but there are now gaping holes through my torso where the wounds were. If I ever escapse the stone, I'll bleed to death in minutes.

I look back up at Setrákus as he begins to shake and spasm like he's having a seisure. Then, he shrinks, his skin gaining some color and smoothing out, a head of hair growing, his features growing less freakish. Then, he's Six.

"For me to be you, you have to be alive," Setrakus says to Six, using her own voice. "For now, at least."

Then, it's like there's a magnetic force on the ceiling, and the stone my torso has turned into responds in kind, dragging me to the ceiling and pinning me, facing downward with my arms and legs dangling. Then, everything else on my body except my eyes is stone. I try to look around and can just make out a stone foot to my right. Looks like Six is in the same condition, but hanging by her hand. Then, the little light in the room fades, and we wait.

* * *

Read and review.


	14. Chapter 14

I do not own Lorien Legacies or any of the characters.

* * *

Rescue

The door opens after roughly ten minutes. Light spills through, and five silhouettes run in, stopping just inside as the door closes again.

"Where's Six?" A blessedly familiar voice asks.

 _Marina!_ I think. Thank God she's alright, and obviously with Eight, if she's here. No offense to Hawkeye or Rookie, but they would never have made it all the way inhere alive. Even with other Lorics helping them.

Relief and joy spread through me with the knowledge that Marina is alright, and I just know that Six would be grinning knowingly at me, if we weren't made of stone. Or about to watch our friends fight Setrákus, who was disguised as Six.

 _Up here! Me and Six are up here! Get us down! Don't trust the other one!_ I plead silently for the others to notice us. After a moment, Ella does.

"You guys, there's something up on the ceiling!" Ella gasps. "I can hear something, but I can't tell what. It's like something's trying to speak to me."

A bright light shines up at me and Six from one of the other silhouettes. Did he bring a flashlight? The light hits Six first and I catch something about a statue. Then, it swings over to me. I hear several gasps. The way I'm hanging, my face is directly toward them. My eyes undoubtedly reflect the light.

 _Help me!_ I shout in my head. _It's James! Get me down from here! Setrákus is disguised as Six! Save us!_

After a moment of them staring at me, Marina says, "I looks like James."

"I think...I think that is James," Ella says. "I think...I think he's trying to shout at us, except, he can't talk, obviously."

"Can you make out his words?" A male voice asks.

"No," Ella says.

One of the figures starts to run up the wall, then across the ceiling toward us. Just as he draws near, Six's voice shouts for him to stop.

"Six!" Marina shouts, relieved. "Oh my God, it's you! You're alright!"

 _It's Setrákus Ra!_ I shout in my head. This time, I see Ella's head snap up toward me.

"It's over, Setrákus Ra is dead," Setrákus states. "the formation on the ceiling is a Mogadorian poison. Don't touch it."

 _That's not Six! That's Setrákus Ra!_

Eight suddenly teleports to Setrákus, throwing his arms around him.

 _It's Setrákus!_ I shout in my head, suddenly feeling like my thoughts were louder than normal.

Ella spins toward Eight and Setrákus.

"Get away from her!" she shrieks.

Eight might have good reaction time, but the warning was too late. Setrákus drives a jagged blue sword into Eight less than a second before he disappears, taking the blade with him. Shock rockets through me as I watch him reappear beside Marina, collapsing, blood pooling below him. He's been stabbed through the heart. Marina stares at him, unbelieving, unable to comprehend what's happened. Setrákus begins to transform back into himself then raises a fist, blue electricity shooting out of his hand. A moment later, a fireball in the hand of one of the males I don't know vanishes and the one that had been running toward us falls.

"Johnny!" the falling guy shouts.

The one whose fireball was extinguished catches him and sets him on the ground. Then, they all move to stand over Eight, one of them reaching for the sword while the one who fell extends a glowing red staff.

 _Leave the sword in!_ I shout.

Ella relays the message, stopping the boy from pulling out the object obstructing Eight's bleeding. Not that it matters. The jagged room is allowing plenty of blood out anyway, and a moment later, the sword sails through the air back to Setrákus anyway. The one with the staff sprints at Setrákus as dozens of Mogadorians enter from the sides, armed with swords and blasters this time, rather than mostly swords.

As the one with the staff charges, the one with the fireball, Johnny, hands Marina a blaster and picks up Eight. Then, the two sprint for the door. Just as they arrive, a dozen or so Mogadorians charge at them. Marina begins to blast them while Johnny sets Eight down just outside the door and grabs a fallen sword, charging into the ranks of the Mogadorians. Together, he and Marina slaughter them easily enough. I look back to the one with the staff, who's battling Setrákus. Just as I do, Setrákus pulls out his whip, and hits the boy on the arm, the wound instantly turning black. A scream rings out and I look to the door, seeing a monster of some kind fighting Mogadorians, but its struggling. Then, a blast flies out of the darkness and hits Johnny in the chest, dropping him.

Marina, who's one again trying to heal Eight, shouts in surprise and dismay. Setrákus whips the Loric he's been fighting again, hitting his other hand and the side of his face. the Mogadorians that the monster is fighting manage to severely wound him and get ropes around his horns then drag him out of the corner he's been in. Johnny begins to fire at Setrákus Ra, trying to distract him so he doesn't kill the Loric who now has two stone arms and a half-stone face, but each blast stops then flies away from Setrákus. Suddenly, a new stream of cannon fire begins from the doorway and a human girl that looks like she's been tortured and imprisoned for weeks, steps through, firing at the Mogadorians. Ella is just behind her.

Suddenly, there's a cry of pain as the Loric fighting Setrákus is hit square in the chest by the whip. Setrákus pulls his arm back again but before he can finish off his target, Ella hurls something that looks like a glowing red blur. It streaks through the air and hits Setrákus in the arm. Setrákus freezes then roars in rage. A moment later, Johnny's hands are glowing again. Marina shouts in surprise and darts to Eight's side, beginning to heal him. As she does, Setrákus rips the object Ella threw at him out of his arm and snaps the whip at Ella and the human girl. Both are hit and drop. Marina finishes healing Eight and I sigh in relief. Then, she kisses him. My body somehow manages to go even more numb than it already was. I shouldn't be surprised. It's not like they hadn't kissed before. But still. I sense sympathy from Six, whose stone cocoon is swaying slightly, as though she's trying to break free. I look to the Loric who's fighting Setrákus and see that he's broken himself free of his own stone and is fighting Setrákus in a blur.

I try to move, but my body fails to respond. Whether from the stone or from the empty feeling in the pit of my stomach after seeing Marina and Eight kiss, I'm not sure. My eyes drift back to Marina, who's just finishing healing Johnny. Johnny sprints toward Ella and the human, slaughtering Mogadorians as he went, launching fireball after fireball. Then, just as he nears them, one Mogadorian who has a decent idea as far as strategy, turns and fires at Ella and the human. Rage boils inside me, but the Mogadorian is instantly killed by John. Then, he drops next to the two girls, grabbing their hands, and stays there, as though praying for them to wake up. Marina stands back for a moment before sprinting over and shouting something to Johnny, though I can't hear her over the battle. I try and focus on the girls and could swear I see the burns on their faces receding.

I hear a crack off to the side and look over just as Six breaks free, falling toward the ground. She slows as she approaches it then lies there a moment before an explosion rocks the room. My cocoon sways and I squeeze my eyes shut, waiting to plummet to my death. But I don't fall. I open my eyes to see Six running toward Johnny and the others. As she arrives, Ella and the human stand and Eight appears beside Eight. An alarm is screaming in my ear, probably because I've had the great luck to get stuck to the ceiling next to the speaker. The sounds of battle seem to have vanished, because everyone's looking around. I can see the Loric that was fighting Setrákus Ra lying on the ground. He doesn't look wounded, but it's hard to see through the ash and from this height. As the others reach him, my cocoon starts to crack.

 _Oh dear God,_ I think as the cracks spread.

Then, the rock shatters and I'm falling. Pain flares in my wounds before my entire body goes numb and cold. I'm falling. Blood is trailing me, a lot of it. I want to shout for the others but I can barely form a coherent thought. I can hear the ground rushing up to meet me. I hear someone shouting something but my vision is blurred and all sound sounds like I'm underwater. Suddenly, the cold filling my body intensifies and pain explodes through my body again. It's nowhere near what it was when I was first stabbed, but that's probably because I'm halfway comatose from blood loss.

The pain recedes after a moment and my vision begins to slowly return. I'm able to make out a face above me but can't tell who it is. I can hear something but I can't understand their words. My vision begins to darken. Looks like my curse won't be reaching Marina after all. Because it's about to end with me.

* * *

Read and review.


	15. Chapter 15

I do not own Lorien Legacies or any of the characters.

* * *

Recuperation

*Six*

I sit on the couch of the John Hancock center and look around in silence. John is in the kitchen with Sarah, Nine is in the Lecture Hall, the room used for training, with Eight, and Marina, Ella, and I are in the living room. Ella looks tired, probably because she'd been having nightmares since we escaped the base in New Mexico. I haven't slept well either, but neither of us compared to Marina. Her eyes are red and puffy, and she sniffs ever few seconds. She clearly hasn't slept at all since we came back, except the car ride back, in which she had cried herself to sleep. She had tried everything in her power to save James. She really had. But he had lost so much blood. By the time she reached him, his heart had already stopped.

Since then, she had been crying almost continuously. Part of my wondered if maybe James had a place in her heart, right next to Eight. Maybe one that neither ever realized he did. Eight has been doing his best to try and cheer Marina up, but even he has a hard time getting her to smile. It hasn't stopped him trying, though.

After a few moments of silence, Eight walks in and holds his hand out to Marina, who looks up at him in confusion.

"We're going out to the city," Eight states. "You need to get out of here for a while."

I can't help but smile as Marina nods. Maybe going on a date with Eight will help a bit. I still feel a little bad that James never had a chance to try and win her over. Once the two are gone, I turn and look to Ella. She's staring at the floor in silence.

"Are you okay?" I ask.

Ella nods. Then she looks over at me.

"Why couldn't she save him?" Ella asks, and for a moment I'm thinking of Crayton. "He wasn't dead like Crayton or Héctor. So what happened?"

"I guess...even Marina's healing Legacy has a limit to how much damage can be restored," I sigh. "I guess James was just too far gone."

"But Eight was stabbed through the heart and she healed him," Ella pointed out. "James wasn't even hit in a spot that's always fatal."

"I know," I mumble. "I was there. I let him be stabbed to that I could try to finish Setrákus. I thought...I thought that if I could finish off that monster I could stop the bleeding and save him, at the very least until you guys came to save us. Or until the humans found us and saved him so they could question him. But..."

"It's not your fault," Ella promises. "We were never going to beat Setrákus Ra. The best that could have happened is that he die long before being trapped in that stone."

I nod, looking at the TV. I turn it on and two familiar faces appear onscreen. Hawkeye and Rookie. For a moment I think they're on the news, then I realize that it's a security camera. It's the lobby. Nine must have been watching the lobby at some point and had forgotten to switch the feed off before turning the TV off.

"The hell did they find us?" I blink.

Ella looks at the screen and her eyes widen.

"I called them," Sarah says, stepping into the room. "I found their numbers in James' phone. I remembered from what you guys told us that they were friends so I called and told them to meet us here."

"Did you tell them that James is..."

"No," Sarah said. "I figured they should probably be told in person."

I nod and walk toward the elevator, since the two of them are on their way up. When I stop outside the door, it slides open and a moment later there are two moderately handsome men hugging me. I chuckle for a moment as they pull back and Hawkeye grins and nods at Ella, who remains silent.

"Is...everything okay?" Rookie asks, picking up on the unpleasant mood before Hawkeye.

"No," I says shaking my head.

Ella and I look at each other and decide I should be the one to break the news. I sigh. She's probably right. They need to be told in person. And, being older and mostly responsible, I should be the one to tell them.

* * *

*Nine*

The tower feels empty now. Johnny, Sarah, and Six have all left to find Five, the dumbass who lit a cornfield on fire to get our attention before sending a message on the internet telling us he's trying to get in touch and giving us a riddle to ind him with. The riddle was simple, so there are probably Mogadorians on their way there. Eight and Marina are out on another date, though I don't think anything has really happened between the two, Eight's mostly just trying to keep her from thinking about what happened with James.

I'm still having a hard time adjusting to the knowledge myself. Hawkeye and Rookie are fun to have around, and Hawkeye continuously challenges me to sparring matches, even though he could never hope to win, while Rookie spends most of his day with the computers. They're taking the news better than I expected, though they both clearly are far from okay. When they got here, Six told them what had happened. Then, they had gone out of their way to avoid her until she left.

"Hey Nine," Rookie calls out, sticking his head out of the workshop where the computers are. "Come check this out."

I walk over and stick my head in and he points at a camera showing a random street in the city. A street where Eight and Marina are walking along. They're not talking, from what I can see, and Marina's eyes don't leave the ground. Clearly, their date is more walking around the streets of the city in case there's something to catch her interest and distract her.

"You're stalking them on their date?" I ask.

"I got curious," Rookie shrugged.

"Where's Ella?" I ask.

"The usual spot," Rookie sighs.

"Figures," I sigh. "Poor girl. She needs sleep."

"We all do," Rookie sighs. "Looks like they're on their way back."

I look at the monitor and see Eight and Marina heading down a street headed back toward the John Hancock Center. I check my watch but before my brain can register the time, a bright red light flashes from the control panel and an alert pops up. What timing.

* * *

Read and review.


	16. Chapter 16

I do not own Lorien Legacies or any of the characters.

* * *

Reunion

I groan. A series of beeps goes off beside me, making my ears ring and my head pound. Light seeps through my eyelids, making my eyes pulse painfully. My entire body feels sore, like I've been boxing with Gigante, using lead gloves. I can hear a voice, calling my name. Not the voice I hoped for, but it's still better than hearing Setrákus Ra, or some Mogadorian.

I slowly raise a hand, shielding my eyes, and a moment later, the light's gone. I let my hand drop, wincing as it hits my ribs, which are excruciatingly tender. Then, I let my eyes slowly creak open. My vision takes a moment to adjust before I see Ella standing beside me. I don't recognize the room, but it's big. Twenty by twenty, or so. The bed is queen sized and there's a floor-to-ceiling window at the head, though there's a blind over it now, blocking out the light. Ella looks like she hasn't slept, and even though I'm just waking up, I feel like I haven't. I feel like death. I try to sit up but can barely move. Even so, Ella gently pushes me back to the bed, smiling sympathetically.

"Easy," Ella says. "You've been comatose for days. We were all terrified you weren't going to wake up. Marina's been in tears for days. She hasn't slept."

"Really?" I ask, a pang of guilt shooting through me. "I didn't mean to worry anyone."

"It's alright," Ella smiles. "She just about lost it when she almost couldn't save you."

I smile at that, then groan, pushing myself up to a sitting position just as the door flies open and I'm blinded again. After a moment, it closes and I open my eyes, seeing Hawkeye and Rookie standing next to it, along with the Loric who attacked Setrákus Ra.

"Good to see you awake," Hawkeye greets. "You gave us all quite a scare."

"Not dying yet," I snort. "Good to see you two alive. Now, get me out of this bed and get me some sunglasses so I can get moving again."

The Loric chuckles and tosses me a pair of Oakleys.

"You sure he should be moving right now Nine?" Rookie asks.

"Man says he wants to get up," Nine shrugs. "I say we let him."

I put the glasses on and he opens the door. I still have to squint from the light, but it's bearable now. Hawkeye walks over and helps me to my feet. It's quite obvious that I've got a concussion, or maybe brain damage, but that won't be stopping me from getting going again. I make my way out into the hallway on my own and Nine begins to fill me in on what's been going on while I was out. Then, he gives me a very slow tour. It ends when we reach a large room that Nine calls the Lecture Hall, though it's actually like a gigantic gymnasium with a shooting range, a small alcove with a seat and computers, and paper and mannequin Mogadorians everywhere. At least, I assume they're mannequins, given that they're staring at us and the others haven't killed them yet. We go to the shooting range and Nine pulls down a Tavor, just like the one I had had in India.

"I hear you're a pretty good shot," Nine grins. "Care for a demonstration?"

I take the gun and a magazine, which Nine says has ten rounds. Then, I sight in at the paper Mogadorian about three hundred yards away. I grin. Easy shot. I pull the trigger. The gun drops to the floor and I stagger backward, teeth clenched together and hands over my ears. Nine winces and picks up the rifle, putting it back and sighing.

"Sorry," Nine apologizes. "I never thought about that. Guess we'll have to save the demonstration for after we get you patched up. Come on. She should be back soon."

I look at him and he grins knowingly. I turn, glaring at Hawkeye who shakes his head.

"Six," Nine says simply. "Don't worry, no one told Marina anything."

He leads me to the living room and tells me to wait there. Then, he, Hawkeye, and Rookie all leave. A moment later, there's a ding and a set of Elevator doors just down one of the hallways leading out of the room slides open. Eight steps out first and stairs at me in disbelief before grinning and looking back into the elevator.

"Come on," he grins. "It looks like somebody has good news."

Marina steps out of the elevator, eyes bloodshot and puffy, the skin under them dark from lack of sleep. She stares at the floor as she walks into the room before looking up and freezing, eyes wide with shock. Then, she sprints forward, leaping into me and wrapping her arms around my neck, knocking me backward onto the couch with her in my lap. I hug her back, unable to breathe through the pain the sudden motion causes for a moment, before slowly exhaling, keeping my groan silent.

"It's alright," I smile. "I'm not going anywhere. I'm alright now."

She pulls back, fresh tears rolling down her face and I reach up, gently wiping them away and smiling.

"I was so scared that you were going to die," she says, slightly more in control now. "I tried to save you. I really did. I promise!"

"I know," I smile. "I know you did. And you did save me. I just needed to sleep for a little while. Although, I seem to be having some concussion trouble."

Marina instantly reaches up to my head and a cool feeling that I'm, unfortunately, extremely familiar with spreads through my head before pain wipes it out. I grit my teeth, squeezing my eyes shut. Then, after a moment, it's gone, and the cool feeling returns long enough to relax my body before Marina stops, lowering her hands. I open my eyes and pull the glasses off and blink. The pain is gone. I smile and nod and she smiles, hugging me again, this time without the pain. I glance at Eight who grins and nods. Oh yeah. He knew right from the start. Should have known. After a moment, Marina pulls back, wiping her eyes before yawning.

"Go get some sleep," I chuckle. "You look like you haven't for a while."

Marina smiles and nods, then stands and makes her way out of the room. Once she's gone, Eight turns to me, face serious.

"You had us all worried," Eight says. "I'm glad to see you're alright. But, now we need to talk."

"She's yours," I say, making Eight blink in surprise, mouth open like he wanted to speak but not sure what to say. "Anyone I get close to gets hurt. Usually they end up dying. In New Mexico, my curse came damn close to taking you away from Marina. She loves you, Eight. More than anything in the world. When she saved you, I realized something. My curse will always be a part of me. But you can protect Marina from the curse. You can make her happy. And you can be there for her, be with her, without one of the two of you dying. If I stay...something bad will happen."

"You sound like you're going to leave," Eight notes, and my eyes fall to the ground. Maybe that would be best. "Seriously? After everything that's happened, after the condition you just saw her in because you were sleeping, you think she could handle it if you just up and left? She loves you too, you know."

I stare at the floor.

"Were you at least going to tell her the truth and say goodbye?" Eight asks, but gets his answer from my expression. "I thought not. Not that it matters, you're going nowhere. Even if I have to chain you to myself to keep you here."

"That would make your dates pretty awkward don't you think?" I grin.

Eight chuckles, shaking his head. "It'd give you a fair chance for the first time, though."

"I think I'll pass on that," I sigh. "I haven't had a great track record with teleporting with you. I'd rather not push it."

Eight rolls his eyes then sighs. "Come on. If you're sticking around, there's something you'll have to do."

"What's that?" I ask.

"Train," Eight states. "With me and Nine. I'm not letting you leave. So you might as well learn to make it through a fight without getting yourself fatally wounded."

I smirk and shake my head then motion for him to lead. And with that, I follow him out of the room and to the Lecture Hall where Nine is watching Hawkeye and Rookie have a shooting competition.

"Hey Sport," Nine calls out waving at me. "You feeling better?"

"I have a favor to ask," I say as he walks over.

"What's that?" Nine asks.

"Train me."

A wicked grin spreads across his face. Then, he nods. And I instantly know I'm about to be in more pain than I was from the concussion.

* * *

Read and review.


	17. Chapter 17

I do not own Lorien Legacies or any of the characters.

* * *

Training

I slam into the ground for the millionth time and groan. I hear Nine stifle a laugh and I hear Eight sigh. I push myself into a seated position as Eight appears in front of me, crouched.

"You're not getting much better," Eight points out.

"First off, we've been training for about three hours straight now," I growl. "Second, that asshole has super speed and strength. Plus I'm unarmed and he's got that freaky bo staff."

"I thought Marines were supposed to be excellent at hand-to-hand combat and winning no matter the odds," Eight said.

"Yeah against humans," I grunt, pushing myself up and watching Nine as he spun the staff around himself several times before trapping it under his right arm. "Fine. I hope you're fast enough to keep out of my reach this time."

I draw a knife from the back of my belt, a sturdy combat knife roughly eight inches. Nine grins and nods then sprints forward, staff leaving a red trail behind it. He swipes it at my head and I duck under it, stabbing at him only for the other end of the staff to flash around at me. I pivot, flipping the knife to reverse grip and the staff crashes into the blade with a loud clang. I kick sideways, hitting Nine in the stomach and forcing him back before I spin, leaping at him. At the last second, he brings the staff upward and catches the bottom of my jaw, launching me backward. I land in a roll, stopping on my feet just as my somehow broken knife lands at my feet.

"That thing's awful delicate for a combat knife," Nine snorts pulling a Mogadorian knife out of the armory and tossing it into the floor at my feet. "Try that one."

I pick it up and smirk.

"Got a sword?" I grin.

Nine shares my grin for a moment before pulling out a sword and hurling it at me. I dive to the side and it impales the wall. Then, I manage to get it free and put the knife on the floor, lifting the sword and giving it an experimental swing. It's a little heavier than I prefer, but it's better than a knife. I sprint at Nine and he begins to speed around the room at more than superhuman speeds. I slow to a stop as he begins to spiral in. I wait, keeping my eyes on him. Then, I duck as the staff sails over my head. He speeds past me, catching the very end of the staff and spinning, swinging it at me. I raise my sword, blocking the staff and shove it upward before kicking Nine. He staggers backward and I slash at him but he grabs the middle of his staff and spins it, knocking the sword away before swiping at me. I duck under it and lunge forward, my fist crashing into the side of Nine's jaw. Nine staggers backward and recovers his footing just as my opposite knee collides with his abdomen. He doubles over, grunting in pain before I slam the pommel of the sword into the back of his head. He drops to the ground and Eight stares in shock before cheering. Nine stands, groans, and then grins.

"What the hell changed?" Nine grins.

"Honestly?" I grin. "I just decided to use the one martial art that has no rules."

"What's that?" Nine asks, confused.

"Israeli military Krav Maga," I state. "I trained with their military for two months. They were more than happy to show me their martial arts in exchange for me helping them with some advanced tactics."

"Nice," Nine grins. "Why not use it all the time?"

"I don't fight hand-to-hand very often," I state. "I'm usually in a gunfight."

"Right," Nine nods. "I suppose. So, wanna go again?"

"Of course," I grin as I back away and he raises his staff.

He starts off by hurling his staff like a javelin. I duck under it, charging forward. However, just as I near Nine, Eight appears in front of me, staff already swinging. I manage to raise my left arm and it gets broken in place of my head. I fly backward, landing in a heap. I groan, pushing myself up, my arm hanging limply. Eight looks like he wants to apologize. Before he can, I sprint forward, slashing at him one-handed. Nine grins as Eight blocks the sword. Nine steps forward to punch me but my foot meets the crook of his elbow and I step off his arm, jumping into the air and flipping, slashing at him. Eight teleports behind him, blocking the sword before I land, dropping to the floor and tripping Eight. The moment Eight is on the ground, I turn my sword around and slam the blunt edge of the blade into Nine's side. He yelps in pain, staggering away as I slash the staff aside and drive my sword down at the ground beside Eight. Eight teleports away, flipping to his feet and dropping the staff, growing into his ten-armed lion form again.

"Ah crap," I grumble as he starts forward.

I sprint forward, rolling under his first swipe then stand and slam the pommel of the sword into the inside of Eight's leg. He drops to that knee and I turn to put the sword to his throat only for a wall of fists to crash into me. I fly backward skidding along the ground for a ways before stopping, groaning.

"Perfect timing," I hear. "Help our friend out won't you?"

I start to open my eyes just as an icy feeling spreads through my arm followed by pain. After a few moments she's finished and I open my eyes to see Marina's tired face above me. She's less tired than before but she still looks exhausted.

"You should be resting," I say as I stand.

"I can't get back to sleep right now," she says. "I'll sleep after I train for a bit."

I nod just as my stomach rumble. I sigh and glance at Nine who chuckles.

"There's some leftover pizza in the fridge," Nine laughs.

I nod and walk out of the room. I make my way to the kitchen and pull a pizza box out of the fridge. I open it and find half a pizza. I grin and sit at the table, digging in. It's not the best food I've ever eaten, but I'm starving so I finish in a few minutes, then start looking for something else. Nothing. After a bit, I walk back to Lecture Hall just as Nine steps back from a group hug with Ella, Marina, and Eight. Ella looks like she's been crying and there's a bag on the floor that looks like it was packed in a hurry. I don't bother to ask.

"Hey Ella," I say. "You have Telepathy, right? That's how you were able to hear me when I was stuck in that rock stuff?"

Ella nods and turns to me.

"Why?" Ella asks.

"Cause I'm jealous," I snort. "I would kill to have a power like that."

Ella beams at me before I'm suddenly five feet off the air. I look at Nine to see him grinning.

"You let your guard down," Nine grins.

"I didn't know we were training!" I complain.

"We're in the Lecture Hall aren't we?" Nine grins.

I groan and the others laugh.

"Put me down so we can train," I snap.

"Get yourself down," Nine shrugs.

"Oh yeah sure," I snort. "Let me just activate my Telekinesis...oh wait, that's right. I don't have it. Because I'm human!"

Nine rolls his eyes and lets me fall. I manage to land on my feet then dive for my sword by I fly across the room before I can grab it. I crash into a line of Mogadorian mannequins. Then, I'm sailing across the room again. I crash into the armory, and I can hear Nine laughing. Marina runs is as I stand and my eyes settle on a paintball gun. I pull it down and open the hopper and grin as a familiar revolting burning smell reaches my nostrils. Marina covers her nose and looks at me questioningly. I wink at her, hearing Nine still laughing. I step out, firing at him in a constant stream of the horrid spheres. He doesn't have time to react before one hits him in the forehead and several hit him in the torso. Then, one hits him in the chin and I let up, grinning from ear to ear. For a moment, Nine looks like he's going to say something before his eyes widen then snap shut and he shrieks in surprise and pain, falling backward and scrambling backward, ripping his shirt off and using the clean back to scrub at his face, which only makes it worse.

"What is that?" Eight asks, smelling the stuff and staggering away, choking.

"Pepper spray paintballs," I grin.

"That stuff you had on yourself when the Mogadorians came after me?" Marina asks, worried.

"Not nearly as strong," I assure her. "It'll just hurt. A lot. Feel free to heal him."

Marina hurries forward, covering her mouth and nose, and uses Telekinesis to remove the pepper spray and send it out the window. Then, she heals his face and he jumps up, glaring at me.

"That was for throwing me around the room with Telekinesis," I state.

"Yeah?" Nine growls. "Then I'll do it without!"

He sprints at me and I toss the paintball gun into the armory and sprint to meet him. Bad move. He's not playing around anymore. The moment we meet, his fist dislocates my jaw. Just as I recover from that, his foot collides with my ear, crushing it. Then I stagger sideways into his fist again, nose first. My vision goes and I feel several more parts of my body break as Nine works out his rage. Then, finally, it stops, and a cooling sensation starts to flood me. When Marina finishes, I stand and charge at Nine again. He laughs in amusement and meets my charge. I duck under his first punch this time and plant my own fist in his nose. He staggers back and I punch again. He leans out of the way so I flip forward, one foot flying up into the side of his head. He grabs it and spins, hurling my across the room. My back breaks against the wall and I fall to the ground in a heap, glaring at him as he glares back. Marina heals me again, and again I charge at Nine. Nothing will stop me from being able to protect Marina. If I can beat Nine, I can keep her safe.

"He's just a glutton for punishment," Nine scoffs as he snaps one of my elbows then a knee. "No wonder you're always healing him."

He throws me back to Marina and she heals me again then holds me down with Telekinesis when I try to go again.

"Enough," Marina sighs. "You're done. Take a break. You can go back to beating the crap out of each other later."

"Fine," I sigh.

She lets me up then turns and leaves, probably headed back to bed. After a few moments, Eight leaves as well before I turn back to Nine.

"You're not bad," Nine says. "And you've got guts. But you're far from good enough to protect Marina."

"Then teach me," I growl. "Instead of just beating me up, why don't you teach me to fight?"

Nine grins then nods. He takes a fighting stance and I grumble in annoyance, taking one as well. I've decided I don't like training with Nine. Maybe Six would be a better teacher.

* * *

Read and review.


	18. Chapter 18

I do not own Lorien Legacies or any of the characters.

* * *

Capture the Flag

I rest my dulled sword on one shoulder and my blaster on the other. John and the others had returned two days ago. Not just with Number Five, but with a human boy named Sam and his father, who apparently had helped the Loric get started on Earth. Sam, apparently, was one of John, Six, and John's girlfriend Sarah's friends, and apparently more than that for Six. He was smart, nerdy, and pretty good with a gun. Sarah was good with a gun too. Five seems a bit...awkward, or like he's trying not to be as much of an asshole as he wants to be. I've seen a lot of that in the Marine Corps. Everyone else doesn't know what to make of him. Me, Hawkeye, and Rookie simply don't trust him. At dinner two nights before, which Marina had done a spectacular job cooking, he had flat out lied about most of his backstory, though I doubt anyone who wasn't around liars all the time noticed.

Now, we were assembled in the Lecture Hall for a game of Capture the Flag. So far, the only two chosen were John and Nine as captains. The ground rules are set, no healing breaks, no Telekinesis on the flag, no teleporting the flag back to the other side. Then, the teams were chosen. in order, John chose Six, Five, Bernie Kosar which is the name of John's Chimæra, Sam, and me. Nine, chooses Eight, Marina, Sarah, Ella, and Hawkeye. Rookie is the odd man out, so he sits on the sideline to watch.

"Everyone ready?" Nine asks after everyone is done planning and I'm placed on defense with Sam and BK. "Go!"

The chaos is instant. Ella, Sarah, Hawkeye, Sam, and me all open fire on each other, all trying to knock the other out before they could hit anyone else. A moment later, Sam spins around, firing behind out lines, toward the flag. Probably Eight. Sam moves to handle that as I keep Hawkeye from sniping anyone. Nine attacks John, but is blocked by a bracelet on John's wrist opening into a strange shield. I spin, shooting at Nine and clip on on the shoulder, knocking him off of John in time for Five's arm to stretch over and wrap around him like it was made of rubber before throwing him across the room. Then, Five walks over to him, his skin turning to a shiny metal as Nine stands. As I return to shooting at Hawkeye's cover, Sarah and Ella suddenly begin shooting and a skeletal system lights up before collapsing and Six becomes visible again before scrambling out of the way of another volley. I send a shot toward Sarah and Ella, managing to get Sarah in the shoulder. However, in the second that it takes me to do that, Hawkeye fires at me, hitting my left shoulder and making it go numb. I curse, staggering backward and dropping my blaster.

Suddenly, there's a tall ten-armed lion standing over me, grinning.

"Um, hello again Eight," I greet.

He sends several punches at me at once and I roll to the side, grabbing my sword from where I had dropped it then stand, turning toward him. A rumble comes from his chest and I get the impression he's laughing. Figures. He punches at me again and I duck under the punches, slashing his calf. He drops to one knee as I stand from a roll behind him. Just as I move to slash again, he spins, five hands slamming into me and throwing me away from the flag. I land in a heap, my sword sailing away from me, and Eight teleports away. I push myself up, feeling beginning to return to my arm. I sprint to my blaster just as Marina streaks past. I grin for a half second before it registers that she's not supposed to be on our side. I turn to look at the flag and shout in surprise. John and BK are sprinting after Marina but Eight teleports BK to the other end of the room. Nine tries to intercept John but Six, who's on the ground for whatever reason, trips him. I fire into the wall just ahead of Marina and she shouts in surprise, dropping and sliding under my stream of fire. Which John is unable to avoid. John drops and I fire at Marina again. This time, instead of sliding under the fire, she runs up the wall, streaking across the center line and starting back down. My rifle falls, pointing at the ground as I stare, open-mouthed, as she steps back onto the ground, her team cheering.

"When did she learn that?" I gape.

"Oh, that's right," John sighs, making his way over. "Nine can transfer his Legacies and can use antigravity."

"That's cheating!" I laugh. "Sorry about shooting you."

"It's fine," John chuckles. "Just don't do it with a live gun."

"Deal," I laugh nodding.

I smile as Marina is wrapped in a hug by Eight, Ella moving to join them. Nine makes his way over to talk to John but stops.

"You should congratulate her," Nine grins. "Maybe she's so excited that you'll get a kiss."

"Maybe I'll drop my blaster and it'll hit you in the nuts," I reply, grinning at him before setting it down against one of the barricades and making my way over.

As I draw near, I pass Six and Sam, who's trying to apologize for accidentally shooting Six. When I reach the other side, Marina is being lifted onto her team's shoulders, holding the flag high. She beams at me and I simply smile and nod. Then, Hawkeye wraps an arm around my shoulder, getting me in a headlock and beginning to grind his knuckles into my head.

"Of course, you know this victory secures me one command you can't refuse," he gloats, going off our usual bets.

"Nothing related to her," I say seriously, extracting myself from his grip.

"No no no," Hawkeye grins. "That's not how this works."

I groan.

"You have to give her a big sloppy-"

He stops when I stomp on his foot. He shouts in pain, hopping around dramatically and holding his foot before loosing his balance and falling over. Everyone starts laughing, so hard, in fact, that they accidentally drop Marina. She shrieks as she falls but she crashes into me and I catch her.

"Good job," I grin and she smiles, hugging me. "How'd you manage to slide under my shots?"

"Ella told me to drop before you fired," Marina says stepping back. "I actually thought Six would get it though."

"Was she close?" I ask. "I didn't notice. I was a little preoccupied with Eight."

"Yeah, I saw what you did to his leg," she says, giving me a mock-exasperated look. "You really should stop playing with pointy objects."

"No pointier than his claws," I laugh. "Besides. It was only his calf. I could have aimed a bit higher."

"That would have been...cruel," she says.

I consider making a joke about her healing it, but I decide I don't want to go there, for several reasons. I look over at Hawkeye and he grins at me. I narrow my eyes at him and shake my head and his grin widens. The penalty for refusing a command isn't something to be enjoyed. And no one is as creative as Hawkeye.

"What's he want?" Marina asks. "He said something about giving you a command right?"

"It doesn't matter," I say. "It's not going to happen anyway, whatever the penalty."

"Penalty?" Marina asks.

"If someone refuses a command, they get a penalty, a punishment," I say. "Hawkeye is...very creative. But his command is something I simply can't do."

Marina opens her mouth to respond just as her team grabs her and drags her away to celebrate some more. Hawkeye flashes me another grin and I sigh. Then, I turn and leave the room, deciding to clean up before everyone else gets done celebrating. It's my turn to cook dinner anyway.

* * *

Read and review.


	19. Chapter 19

I do not own Lorien Legacies or any of the characters.

* * *

Nightmares

I watch as Marina runs to Eight. John begins to throw fireballs at the Mogadorians again. Their powers are back. Marina can still heal Eight. Just as she starts to try, the stone breaks off of my body and I fall. I land on my feet and pick up a fallen blaster, except, I'm not controlling my body. I look out the corner of my eye and see Setrákus Ra's hand moving like his fingers have marionette strings attached to my limbs. I try desperately to move but I can't. As I pass John, he shouts in surprise, seeing my wounds. Then, a Mogadorian tackles him and they start grappling with a knife. I hear it stab something but it's behind me and I can't see who got stabbed. Finally, I reach Marina and Eight and she looks up at me in surprise and fear.

"James?" She breathes. "I...I don't know if I can-"

 _Bang!_

My blaster goes off and leaves a gaping hole in the side of Eight's head. Marina screams in fear, surprise, and grief. Then again in pain as not one but two scars begin to burn themselves onto her ankle. Marina looks up at him and time seems to slow as my body raises the blaster. I shout in rage, trying desperately to stop, to not do what I know I'm about to.

 _Bang!_

I sit bolt upright in bed, gasping for breath and looking around in a panic. I'm not in that base. I'm in the John Hancock Center. I can still feel the blaster, the heat off the barrel as I fired. The burning of so much ash in the air. Marina's screams still echo in my head. I roll out of bed, heading up to the roof silently. It's empty right now. I sit down one the edge, staring down at the streets below. I can feel myself starting to drift off soon. I force my eyes open again but when I do the city's completely different. Everything is destroyed. And there are corpses everywhere.

"There you are," a voice says from behind me.

I spin, shoving myself to my feet to see Chad Chadwick standing behind me, except for a jagged purple scar around his neck.

"Chad?" I blink. "What...how?"

"What're you doing man?" Chad asks. "You should be out there, fighting the Mogs. We're soldiers. Not babysitters. We don't protect. You know that. We're Marines. We kick in doors, kill everyone inside, and then move on to the next house."

"Chad...what are you talking about?"

"You're going about this all wrong man," Chad sighs. "Tell me where you are."

I glance around, seeing we're suddenly in a body-filled and burned field. Then, I look back at Chad.

"Who are you?" I growl. "You're not Chad."

"No," he nods. "I'm not."

He raises his hand and a sword blade erupts from my abdomen before stone spreads from it, encasing my body.

"I'm going to find you and kill you all!" Chad growls with Setrákus Ra's voice.

* * *

I jerk as I wake up, and suddenly I'm in free fall. I hear a shout above me and suddenly Eight has me by the arm and we teleport back to the roof, landing hard.

"God damn boy!" Eight grunts, pushing himself up. "Shit, I've been looking for you. Come to Ella's room. There's trouble."

Then, he's gone. I lie there a moment, trying to force my nerves to be a bit less fried from my two nightmares, one hand pressed firmly to the spot where the sword wound had been. No one knew, to my knowledge, but that one wound had left a scar, despite Marina healing it. It also had left nightmares. This hadn't been the first, but it was the most...vivid. And the first in a long time to feature Chad Chadwick.

I finally stand and hurry down to Ella's room, finding not only Ella, but also John, lying on the bed, both with their teeth clenched, hands curling and uncurling in the sheet, and both looking to have no intention of waking up soon.

"What happened?" I ask.

"We found Ella like this," Six says. "Then she grabbed John's hand and suddenly he was like this too."

"She couldn't do whatever she did to John to Sarah, though, so we doubt it effects humans," Nine says.

"There's something, at least," I mumble. "Now what?"

No one answers. After a bit, we all file out of the room. Most go back to their rooms but I return to the roof. I don't feel like dealing with another nightmare, especially not with what's going on with Ella and John. Being human, I doubt it was anything more than a nightmare for me. But I still don't want to have to deal with it. I sit on the edge again and a moment later, Eight is behind me.

"Not going to jump again are you?" Eight asks.

"Sorry about that," I sigh. "And thanks for the catch. I was...having a bad dream."

"Yeah, I could tell," Eight sighs. "I doubt anyone is going to sleep tonight."

"I agree," I nod. "You had visions of Setrákus Ra, right? Would it be possible for me to?"

"You dreamt about him?" Eight asks.

"I saw my dead friend, with Setrákus's neck scar," I say. "Except, everything was destroyed and there were corpses everywhere. Then, all of a sudden, a sword stabbed me from behind and I was encased in stone again." I realize I'm holding the scar again and lower my hand. "Then my friend has Setrákus's voice and starts demanding to know where I am."

"I don't know if it was a vision or a nightmare," Eight says. "But I'd guess Nightmare."

I nod, happy to hear someone say it. Then, I sigh, turning back to the city.

"You know, you don't have to go tomorrow," Eight says.

"I'm going," I say flatly. "No way am I staying here while she goes after Five's chest when there are probably Mogadorians or worse guarding it."

Eight nods and then teleports away. After a few minutes, the door opens and closes. I know who it is even before they start to walk away from the door.

"You can't sleep either?" Marina asks.

"No," I say. "I suppose that's to be expected though. All things considered, it'd probably be bad if I could."

Marina nods and sits beside me, leaning on my shoulder.

"What do we do about the mission?" Marina asks. "Without John, should we still go? It looks like a pretty bad way to start."

"The mission will be fine," I assure her, though I'm less than optimistic about it. "We'll sneak in, grab the chest, and be out before anyone even knows we were there."

Marina nods before yawning.

"You need to rest," I say. "Try and get some sleep."

"I can't," Marina says. "I keep worrying about what'll happen to me if I do."

"Don't worry," I smile. "I won't let anything bad happen to you. You should know that by now."

Marina smiles up at me for a moment before setting her head back down. After a moment, she nods and stands. Then, she holds out her hand. I accept her help and we head down to her room. There, I lie down with her head on my shoulder. Under normal circumstances, I'd be very far from this situation, for her own safety. But she needs sleep. And I'm just too tired to think about whether or not my curse will use this opportunity. Within a few minutes, Marina has drifted off to sleep. I smile, watching her for a moment before my own eyes begin to close as well. I steel myself for a nightmare, but there is none.

* * *

Read and review.


	20. Chapter 20

I do not own Lorien Legacies or any of the characters.

* * *

FUBAR

The trip to the Everglades was easy. There was no trouble getting on the plane, no problem even renting a fanboat for the trip through the swamp. Riding the Fanboat is proving to be a bit less entertaining than the rest. We're all still worried about John and Ella, but we're keeping it in check, focusing on the mission. Among the group is me, Six, Marina, Nine, Eight, and Five. Everyone else had stayed behind incase John and Ella woke up.

All around us, there are trees, mud, reeds, alligators, and mosquitos. I have to work hard not to be eaten alive by the bugs, but it seems to keep everyone else safe since they seem to like human more than Loric. I grab the side of the boat as Nine haphazardly steers around another log floating through the water. Just as he does, Eight shouts something and points. I look, as does Marina. An alligator watches us from the reeds before retreating from sight. It was a big one two. Could have passed for a very large log. I shift my Tavor on my shoulder, catch my sword as it starts to fall, then look back at the maps that they gave me, since Six couldn't figure it out. I'm not a bad navigator, but my directions seemed to differ from Five, who was flying over us, claiming to be able to see it better from above. Probably true, considering that's how the maps were.

"Where's he going?" I ask, looking up at five. "The map says it's to the left!"

"Who knows!" Nine responds. "He's not exactly the sharpest tool in the shed!"

"You should really learn to keep your mouth shut!" I shout over the fan and the wind. "You're going to get yourself into trouble you can't get yourself out of if you don't!"

Nine shrugs and I look up again. Just as I do, Five flies down, hovering over the boat for a moment before dropping down into it. He, more so than the rest of us, is drenched in sweat and his clothes are sticking to him. He pulls his shirt away from himself subconsciously then points ahead of us.

"It's a mile up ahead," he says. "There's a patch of land up ahead."

A moment later, we reach the patch of land. It's a pile of mud in the middle of a river with a gnarled tree on top of it.

"This is a pretty good place," Marina says.

"Thanks," Five smiles. "I camped under the tree and figured I'd be able to find it again easily."

"Good call," I nod. "So, where's the chest?"

Five walks over to the tree, reaching under the roots. After a moment, there was a wet sucking sound and Five pulled his chest free. I look around as he does just as the grass off to one side parts. Eight notices to as an alligator head emerges. It's massive. It's head is easily two feet longer than that of any alligator I've ever seen before, in real life or online. I suddenly remember Nine and John talking about being able to talk to animals.

"Nine," I say. "Get rid of that thing."

Nine looks over at it and grins.

"Maybe I'll keep him for a pet," Nine grins. "Or I'll make a nice coat out of...hold on..."

A second, equally massive head appears next to the first, then a third. I swallow hard, pulling my sword over my shoulder, slinging it across my back before raising my rifle.

"I thought this was too easy," I growl.

The heads slowly rise from the water, their three necks joining together on a single body covered with oily black fur. A pair of massive bat wings spreads from the creature's back and it stands fifteen feet tall on a pair of humanoid legs.

"What the hell is that?" I ask, unsure which head to sight in on.

It roars, wings beating as it climbs into the air. It has three curled talons on the front of each foot and one on the heal. There are soft-looking pads on the bottoms of its feet with a pair of "S" shaped scars. Once it's high enough, it begins to fall toward us. Eight teleports Marina away and I dive aside, rolling to my feet and opening fire on the thing. It shrieks in rage and pain, staggering away from my hail of bullets, thick black blood flooding down its side. One of its wings is shredded by bullets in a moment just before my magazine runs dry. I drop it, slamming the next in before the other wing crashes into me, launching me into the water. As I surface, Five is rummaging through his chest and Six is trying to form a storm. Nine is struggling to fend ofd the creature with his staff, and when he trips, Eight shape shifts into a huge man-boar hybrid, grabbing the creature's alligator tail and yanking it back, stopping it from biting Nine. It twists around, biting into Eight's shoulder. He bellows in pain through his snout, his form starting to flicker. Before it can bit him again, a lightning bolt strikes it in the back, knocking it flat on the ground. Nine charges it and slams his staff into it but it hardly does anything.

Marina sprints toward Eight and I drag myself onto the muddy ground, aiming at the creature and sending bullets at its face, trying to blind it. I manage to get two eyes before the creature is up again. It smashes its good wing into Nine, knocking him away just before two more lightning strikes hit the creature, destroying its good wing and knocking it down again, but it's up sooner this time.

"What does it take to kill this fucker!?" Nine shouts.

Just as he does, a shrill whistle fills the air, like nails on a chalkboard. I cover my ears, spinning to see Eight blowing into a strange obsidian flute. A moment later, the creature drops, heads tucked to its chest and wings folded, like it's bowing. I look back at Five. His bearing is completely different now than it was when we had met him. Hell, than it was on the trip down. He seems confident. Certain. Most of all. He seems arrogant.

"If you had that thing to start with, why didn't you use it?" Nine demands.

"I thought you might want a workout," Five says, smiling coldly at Nine.

It's not the same as any time they've fought in the past. This time, he seems like he knows something no one else does. I really wanna take that whistle from him, though I'm not sure why.

"Would someone please kill that thing already?" Six asks.

"Gladly," Five smiles, taking two steps forward and stopping right next to Six. "I made the beast, the least I can do is put it down."

Instinct kicks in. My rifle comes up toward him. Before I can fire, he's plated in steel, and I'm flying through the air, my rifle lying on the ground where I had been. As I crash into the creature we had been fighting, Five's steel-plated fist crashes into Six's jaw in an uppercut, launching her through the air to Marina. Marina tries to move to heal her but is clearly being held back by Five's Telekinesis. Six is most likely going to have a fractured skull. I have to put Five down, or at least distract him, so that Marina can heal Six.

Nine charges as I try to stand, but I'm still disoriented from slamming into the creature's unnaturally solid scales. Five's body turns to rubber and his arm stretches out, grabbing Nine around the throat before stretching out to the water and dunking him, staying there.

"The three of us should probably talk," Five says sitting down on his chest.

"Where's the real Number Five?" Eight asks after a moment as Marina edges toward the edge of the island.

"Oh, you think I'm Setrákus Ra," Five says. "It's cool Eight. I'm the real deal. No shape shifting tricks."

I sprint forward, sword raised and am sent flying again with a force like a semi truck. I crash into the creature and slide to the ground, groaning.

I start to push myself up again as Eight and Marina talk to Five. That's fine. Let them talk to the traitor. I'll figure out a way to stop him. I can't throw my sword or he'll catch it with Telekinesis. If I charge again, I'll be blasted with a most likely stronger Telekinetic shove. I could kill the creature, probably. At least then that wouldn't be a threat. Just as I turn, Telekinesis slams me into the ground and Five hurls Nine out of the water into the tree, Nine hits back first, crying out in pain. His back is more than likely broken, and he falls to the ground, unable to get up again. the Telekinesis holding me down evaporates and I stand again, glaring at Five.

"You were trained by your pitiful Cêpans, if you were lucky," Five is saying. "Mucking about with your chests and your Legacies, always in the dark. I was trained by the most powerful fighting force in the universe, and you're threatening to hurt me?"

"Pretty much," Eight growls, transforming into his ten-armed lion.

At that moment, Five blows his flute and I spun just before being football-kicked by the creature as it charges at Eight. I crash down into the water and surface instantly, swimming toward land. As soon as I'm out, I rush to help Eight, who's having a ferocious wrestling match with the creature.

"Don't hurt each other, we can still be friends," Five calls out.

I glance at the psychopath. He actually seems to believe friendship is possible. I turn back to the fight and leap onto the creature, stabbing the rightmost head through the brain, making that head go limp. As I rip my blade free,the other two heads roar in rage. One snaps at me but Eight catches it by the throat. I slash its eyes out, then stab the remaining eye on the other surviving head. Then, a wing crashes into me, launching me past Five. My sword stabs into the ground in front of me and I pull it free, seeing a chance. I sprint at Five but once again, Telekinesis forces me back, less violently this time.

Marina tries to heal Six but Five lifts her off the ground with Telekinesis. Then, a branch hits him in the back of the head and smashes on his steel skin. He turns, deflecting a second Nine hurled at him with his own Telekinesis. Five begins toward Nine just as Eight finishes the creature, snapping its middle jaw open to the point that its head is nearly torn in half, the other two head hanging limp.

"Well done," Five congratulates. "But there's plenty more where that came."

He continues to Nine as Eight shrinks back down to normal, wounded by the creature but still able to stand again. Marina is healing Six again now, but Five doesn't notice. Nine tries to pull his staff to himself but Five catches it then breaks it over his knee like a stick. Before he can kill Nine, Eight appears between them.

"Get out of my way Eight," Five growls. "My offer to you still stands, but only if you let me finish this loudmouthed moron off."

"Let him take a shot dude!" Nine speaks up.

"Shut up!" Eight snaps over his shoulder. "Five, you're not thinking straight. They've done something to you. In your heart, you know this isn't right."

"You want to talk about right? What's right about sending a bunch of children to a strange planet so they can fight a war they don't even understand? What's right about giving those children numbers instead of names? It's sick."

"So is invading another planet," Eight defends. "Wiping out an entire people."

"No, you understand so little," Five says. "The Great Expansion had to happen."

"Genocide had to happen? That's insane!"

"You were told to fight by your Cêpans and that it's what your Elders want! Have you ever questioned why? Of course not! You're just following the orders of old dead men! And I'm the insane one?"

"Yeah," Nine speaks up. "Are you even hearing yourself Bro?"

"You're confused," Eight pleads. "You've been held prisoner for years without even realizing it. Just calm down and we can discuss this. We shouldn't be fighting."

He's stopped listening. He drops his shoulders, sprinting forward only to stop suddenly as Marina holds out her hand.

"His left hand, help me get it open!" Marina shouts.

Nine and Eight hold their hands out as well and Five shouts in pain, struggling to resist. The bones in his fingers crack loudly and a rubber ball and a ball bearing both fall free, rolling under the roots as Five drops to his knees, clutching his hand and starting at Marina. I start forward but he stops me in my tracks, more like hitting a wall than a train this time.

"It's going to be okay..." Marina says, trying to talk him down.

The Telekinetic wall fades as Eight rests a hand on Five's shoulder.

Five sobs, shaking his head. "It wasn't supposed to go like this."

"Crying like a girl," Nine spits.

My stomach drops. Five's expression darkens and he shoves Eight, flying at Nine, a foot long needle-like blade extended from a leather sleeve around his wrist. I sprint forward. Why couldn't Nine just keep quiet? I feel sick. Five is holding Nine down with Telekinesis, holding him in place. It doesn't matter. I know what's about to happen. Even before anyone had moved I knew. My curse had come to claim its next mark. And I was too far away, and too slow, to stop it. But that did nothing to stop me from trying. Five bears down on Nine. He pulls his blade back.

"STOP! ! !" I shout, for all the good it does.

The next second, several things happen at once. First, Eight appears over Nine. Five, not realizing who he's about to stab, sends a blast of Telekinesis at me, as I draw near. It hits me with the force of a cannon ball, and I can feel my ribcage explode. Then, As I start to fly backward, the blade drives itself through Eight's heart. Five backs away, shoved at what he's done. Marina shrieks in grief and pain. I land in a heap, head facing Six as a light begins to shine through her pant leg. Eight's gone. I hear Marina sobbing. Then, she stops. She's probably trying to heal him, but I can't turn my head to look. The fact that I'm still awake is either a miracle, or a sign that I'm dying. Again. Probably dying.

Out of the corner of my eye, I manage to catch a glimpse of the water freezing. I'm suddenly cold. Then, Five staggers into my view, just barely. An icicle sprouts from his foot, blood running down it. Then, he pitches forward, head out of my view but I can hear him scream again. I imagine a second icicle stabbed into his head. Except, he's still alive, so it probably only got his eye. Somewhere above me I realize there's a Mogadorian ship. I hear Six shouting to Marina, somewhere near the tree, probably. Fear grips me. Dying or not, I don't want to be left behind with Mogadorians. However, before my fear can gain any real footing, Marina appears over me, beginning to heal me. There's no pain, this time. I guess I'm too far gone.

"Marina there's no time!" Six shouts. "Bring him! We have to go now!"

"He can't move like this!" Marina shouts back. "Please hold them off! I won't leave him! I can't lose them both!"

She has tears flooding down her face but she's not sobbing. I can see the Mogadorian ship landing. It's too late to save me. If they stay, they'll die.

"Go," I manage to whisper. "Leave."

"No," Marina says firmly. "I won't let you die James."

I see Six pull my Tavor to herself and then turn on the ship, spraying bullets into the open doorway, ash flying out. I heat bullets ricocheting around inside the ship. For a moment, it's working. Then, Six runs dry. She swears then uses Telekinesis to pull a fresh magazine from my pocket. In that fraction of a moment it takes her to reload, several Mogadorians sprint out of the ship, shooting at us all. Nine blocks the shots before Marina's arm whips out before returning to me, massive icicles now impaling the ash clouds that used to be Mogadorians on the island. Six returns to spraying bullets into the ship. Just as Marina finishes healing me, Six runs dry again. I stand and she throws the gun at me. I reload as Six takes Marina's hand, Nine over her shoulder.

"Go straight that way," I say pointing North before running for the boat, grabbing my sword on the way. "I'll meet up with you!"

Then, I speed off and the others turn invisible. The ship takes off a moment later, chasing me. It begins to shoot and I only barely manage to avoid the fire. After nearly fifteen minutes of the chase, I hit a log, I hope, and the boat flips. As soon as I'm concealed from view, I dive into the water, swimming away as fast as I can. The boat explodes violently and I keep swimming. No further shots come at me but I wait. Finally, when I can't hold my breath any longer, I surface and look around. No ship. Two alligators, normal this time. I climb out of the water and turn to look back at them. The both growl hungrily, reaching shore before stopping. Then, they turn and swim away. I reach back to my sword and turn only for Nine to catch my arm and put a finger to his lips. I nod and we run into the trees, Nine leading me back toward the others.


	21. Chapter 21

I do not own Lorien Legacies or any of the characters.

* * *

Stranded

We stop, sitting on a mostly dry patch of land and roots to rest. It's been hours since we escaped the Mogadorians. So far, Marina has yet to stop radiating cold air. It's a welcome relief from the humidity of the swamp, but it's also not a good sign. She hasn't spoken since Nine and I met back up with her and Six.

"I'll take first watch," I volunteer. "You guys rest."

Six and Nine both pass out without a complaint but Marina simply sits there. I sit beside her and wrap an arm around her. For a moment, her skin is ice cold. Then, the cold fades almost entirely as she curls herself into me.

"Why did he do it?" Marina sobs into my chest.

"I don't know," I say, running a hand over her back and rocking slightly. "I don't know."

We stay like that for a long while, until she finally cries herself to sleep. The cold aura around her finally fades and Six and Nine both wake up, groaning quietly.

"Is she asleep?" Six asks quietly and I nod.

Six nods as well and tries to go back to sleep, as does Nine, but neither can. I remain where I am, holding Marina against me and feel my eyes starting to drift closed.

"Sleep," Nine finally says. "I'll take watch. With my senses I can tell if anything's coming, and can keep animals away."

I nod and rest my head on top of Marina's. Then, I drift off as well. All too soon, Nine is shaking us both awake. Marina's cold aura returns, though less powerfully than before, and we continue through the swamp. The next night, we keep walking, having found a road, and soon reach a small town, if you are being generous. All of the huts were piles of plywood hastily nailed together, probably not even enough to block the rain. Music drifts toward us from further on and we follow the road until we find a log cabin with the word "Trapper's" in sizzling green neon on the roof. One look, and we could tell is was just a sleazy bar, but they might have a phone. And food. All we had eaton was the tiny animals Nine had managed to catch on the way, and that wouldn't even have fed one person. Let alone four. We make out way to the bar and Marina's cold aura evaporates as we enter. Instantly, the music doesn't stop, but all eyes are on us. We don't fit in. We're not dirty enough. We have too much hair, too many teeth, none of us has a mouth full of dip, and while we all stink, we don't smell like we've never taken a shower in our lives.

"Hoo boy!" someone shouts as we walk to the bar, then whistles.

Apparently, not many women, if any, set foot in Trappers. This aught to be interesting, if nothing else. I look around as we stop at the bar. There seem to be two types of everything. Shaved or unkempt bear. Tremendously overweight or alarmingly skinny. Half-open dirty plaid shirts or sweat-stained wife-beaters. Gap-toothed leers, or no-toothed leers. One guy in a torn heavy-metal shirt with a lower lip packed with tobacco sidles up next to Marina.

"This must be my lucky day," he drawls before spitting a small puddle of nearly-black dip juice onto the floor. "Because you girls-"

Before he can finish his sentence, my Tavor is pressing against his nose. The bar goes completely silent. Terror shoes on the man's face and he swallows hard.

"I'll say this once," I snarl. "Keep your disgusting hands, to yourself. Or I'll repaint this entire bar with your insides."

He nods vigorously but before he can leave, I press harder.

"And one more thing," I growl. "Take a fucking shower. You smell like an alligator shat you out then puked on you."

I lower my rifle and he scrambles away. A few men are laughing at the insult and the tension is mostly gone, despite my scene. The message was well-received though. Everyone keeps their distance.

"Thanks," Marina smiles before it fades.

I smile as well, wrapping an arm around her and pulling her onto my shoulder. She sighs quietly as the bartender walks over. He's a round man and slightly more alert than the rest of the bar's occupants. He has an apron on as well, which might help his appearance a little.

"You should know I keep a shotgun under the bar," he warns. "I don't want anymore trouble."

"We won't start anything," I promise. "As long as they don't."

"You have anything to eat?" Nine asks. "We're starving."

"I could fry you up some burgers," he suggests.

"They're not possum meat are they?" Nine asks. "You know what, never mind. I don't want to know.

"Four please," I say.

Six asks for a phone and the bartender jabs his thumb toward a payphone in the corner then walks into the back to start cooking the food.

"I'm going to go call the others," Six says and turns to walk away just as a man from the porch outside the bar who might weigh a hundred pounds and who was chain-smoking before, shambles over.

He sit next to Six and flashes a grin, exposing several holes in his smile.

"Hey honey," he greets. "Buy me a drink and I'll tell you my story. It's a real doozy."

"Get away from me," Six warns.

The man looks past her to where my hand is resting on the pistol grip of my rifle. He stiffens then grumbles something and slinks off. I let go of the rifle and feel Marina smile slightly.

"You didn't point it at him," Marina smiles.

"He wasn't trying to hit on you," I reply, not entirely certain why.

I feel Marina's smile widen as her arms wrap around me. Six flashes me a grin, despite everything that's happened and I roll my eyes before she heads for the phone. Before she can, the TV comes back on and my stomach drops. Marina seems to notice something's off because she turns to look. I kick a bottle across the floor, hitting Six in the back of the foot and she turns. I point at the TV and she looks. On the screen, a police reporter is standing in front of a line of police tape, the John Hancock Center in the background. A moment later, the feed switches to a video of the penthouse in flames. A clap of thunder suddenly shakes the roof and I glance at Six. She nods, letting me know she's got herself back under control.

"This can't be happening," Marina breathes. "The others..."

"Hawkeye and Rookie were there," I say. "They'll have gotten the others out safe. Now we just need to find them again."

Marina nods but I can tell she's not fully convinced, not that I am either. Nine stands and leaves the bar and Six follows, leaving me and Marina in the bar.

"I tell you I saw them," the chain-smoker that had tried to flirt with six to get a drink is saying from down the bar.

"Yeah right Dale," the person at the bar laughs. "Aliens? Really? In the Everglades?"

Marina and I exchange a look and instantly know our next move. A second later, I have one of Dale's arms behind his hack and a knife pressed against his back just below it, leading him out of the bar after Six and Eight.

"We need to figure out what we're going to do next," Nine says.

"Already covered," I say as we walk over. "Our friend here has a very interesting story after all. Talk."

He instantly dives into what would be a long story.

"Short version," I growl, pressing my knife harder.

"I know about an alien base in the swamp!" he says quickly. "An abandoned NASA hangar."

"Describe the ship," I say.

"Shiny!" he says. "White!"

"Mogadorians," Six says. "You're going to lead us to the hangar. Or I'll let my friend repaint the bar."

I smirk at her using my own threat. Dale seems to not want to call a bluff. He nods vigorously and I release him. Then, we follow him to his boat, and we're on our way.

* * *

Read and review.


	22. Chapter 22

I do not own Lorien Legacies or any of the characters.

* * *

Tracking

I lean back against the side of the boat, Tavor in my lap, sword beside me, and my eyes watching Dale, as his remained on the floor, glancing up at me every so often. At first during the tip, he had been making no effort to hide his staring at Marina and Six. Once he found my rifle to his eye, that stopped, and his eyes hadn't left the boat since, except to glance at me in case I was distracted. Nine is on bucket duty, using it to scoop water out of the boat's foot wells so we don't sink. The boat isn't far from it, either. It's duct taped and shoe-laced together, literally, and the engine is nearly overheated just moving slowly. Marina is standing beside Six as Six steers. Dale gives them directions every so often, since that was the entire reason we brought him.

Last night, we rented a "shack" from the Trapper's bartender. It was one of the poorly built piles of wood we had passed with a ratty old mattress on the ground, a hotplate, and a rusted out sink that wasn't even connected to anything. Since we didn't trust Dale to run off at the first chance, we took turns watching him. Nine went first while the rest of us tried to rest, Six and Marina on the mattress and me next to the door with my rifle in case the Mogadorians had somehow tracked us. At some point, Marina had said she could feel Eight's presence calling to her.

Today, she seems to still feel it. She's staring straight ahead, silent and ignoring anything else. Even when Six tried to ask her if she was okay, Marina hadn't responded. I'm starting to get worried, but I keep silent.

I realize I've been staring at her and turn to Dale, seeing him doing the same. I take the handle of my rifle and Dale's eyes drop to the floor again.

"How much further?" I ask.

"Not much," Dale says, looking up at me. "Bout an hour."

"If you're anything less than truthful, I'll shoot your knees and let you walk back," I growl.

"Cut the engine," Marina suddenly hisses.

Six complies and I step forward, rifle ready. We wait. Sure enough, a second engine begins to grow louder in the distance, doing considerably less sputtering and hiccuping than Dale's. I raise the rifle as Six turns to Dale.

"Are there any other dirt bag swamp people out here?" she asks.

"Sometimes," Dale says, though he doesn't sound sure. "Now, wait a minute, are we in danger? Because I didn't sign up for that."

"You didn't sign up for anything," Nine reminds him.

Finally, the motor falls silent just barely around the next corner. A pontoon boat comes bobbing around the corner, manned by a trio of Mogadorians. For a moment, we're silent. No one moves, even the Mogadorians.

"Friends of yours?" Dale asks, voice slurred from the flask he's been sipping at all morning.

Just like that, everyone moves. two Mogadorians reach for their blasters and one dives for the engine. Six uses Telekinesis to send the front of their boat into the air and the Mogadorian going for the engine falls overboard. The other two stumble but don't fall. At almost the same time as Six hits the boat with Telekinesis, Marina plunges her hand into the water and a sheet of ice shoots out from her hand, freezing a trail to the Mogadorian's boat and then trapping it at an incline. Nine jumps out of the boat, sprinting to the Mogadorian's boat and leaping onto it, grabbing a Mogadorian by the throat. the incline and Nine's momentum send both staggering toward the back of the boat and the other Mogadorian raises his rifle.

I fire and the Mogadorian who had managed to get his rifle explodes into ash. Nine snaps his catch's neck and the Mogadorian who fell overboard tries to climb onto Marina's ice. Bad move. An icicle instantly impales him, killing him. I smirk just as theirs a splash behind me and I turn, seeing Dale swimming away.

"Want him back?" I ask.

"No," Marina says. "We're close enough now. And besides..."

"Holy shit," Nine breathes, eyes staring at the sky.

"I think we can follow that," Marina finishes, also looking up.

Six and I look up and my arms fall to my sides, almost dropping my rifle. Above us is a ship. Not like the one that the Mogadorians had chased me in a few days ago. This one is the size of an aircraft carrier. probably bigger. It has dozens of massive cannons along its belly and it blocks out the sun for several moments before it passes us, completely ignoring me standing seemingly alone in the rickety pontoon boat. Once it's gone, Marina, Six, and Nine reappear and we stare at the thing through the canopy of trees a moment longer.

"Well," I sigh. "Not going to do anything useful standing here. Let's go raid a Mogadorian warship."

"Do you know what this means?" Six asks, turning on me.

"That the Mogadorians are here and we need to stop them before any more ships like that show up?" I ask.

Six stares at me before grinning.

"Marina, why don't you take over," Six says and Marina nods.

Then, she steps up to the wheel and starts out. Six turns to me, grinning.

"You've been awful...forward, lately," Six grins.

"You want to know what I've learned?" I ask.

"Sure," Six nods.

"You can try to run and hide from pain. You can take every opportunity to try and make sure it won't find you. You can take any precaution you want. And in the end, you'll waste every second you have. I might not have many seconds left to waste. I'm not as...durable, as all of you. I'm much easier to break." I say, then sigh. "I thought that by staying away as much as possible, I could protect her from my curse. That she could be happy. But Eight still died. Marina may be alive, but Eight's not. And she's suffering. A lot. Even if she won't show it. I tried to protect her by staying away, and she was hurt anyway. So this time, I'm not going to run from my curse. I understand that I can't. And I can't simply leave because the last time someone tried to leave they died."

"James, war has casualties," Six says. "Bad things happen. You can't keep blaming a curse for bad things happening to you."

"So, you're telling me to just go ahead and make a move?" I ask. "That even though people are going to die, I should take the risk? Is that what you told Sam when he asked you out?"

Six looked taken aback for a moment before her face fell. An image of the John Hancock Center burning enters my mind.

"It'll take more than that to kill Sam," I say and Six looks up at me. "After all, he was with two ex Marines, Sarah, and they had that armory. I know they all made it out safe. Besides, John probably woke up while we were out. Even if not at first, then...when that scar..."

Six's eyes widen and she nods slowly before sighing.

"You're right," she mumbles. "I used the wars have casualties line to turn Sam down. But...if he's gone..."

"It's not so easy to figure out your emotions is it?" I ask, smirking. "Much less keep them in check. I'm going to protect Marina, no matter what it takes. I'm not going to let her be hurt. Even if that means I have to follow Eight."

"She'd never forgive you if you died now," Six says.

"And if I let her die, I'll kill myself," I say flatly. "I can't blame my curse for everything. But my curse isn't a figment of my imagination. And I won't let it take Marina from me."

Just as I say this, Marina kills the engine and then forms an ice pathway to shore. We all climb out and make our way through the bushes to the edge of a clearing. Inside is a hanger. And over our heads, is the gigantic warship.

* * *

Read and review.


	23. Chapter 23

I do not own Lorien Legacies or any of the characters.

* * *

Pulling Out

"He's in there," Marina says. "I can feel it."

"Yeah, along with a hundred Mogs and the biggest goddamn space ship I've ever seen," Nine states.

"I can't sneak in there," I say. "You guys can."

"Why not you?" Six asks.

"You can only turn two invisible at once," I say simply. "But that hanger is only five hundred meters away. I can cover you from here with my rifle. Except, if I shoot, they'll know I'm here."

"Here," Nine says fishing something out of his pocket. "I actually meant to give you this sooner. Just kinda got distracted by...well."

I nod, taking the suppressor from Nine and sliding it over the barrel of my Tavor.

"I'll cover you," I say. "If you need me, send something my way."

Six nodded before turning herself and the others invisible. I lay down just inside the weeds, my barrel hidden by the grass as I watched the Mogadorians moving gear, plants that look mutated, and animals that look equally mutated onto the Warship via extended ramps. There was a Mogadorian in decorative black armor standing near the hangar, along with one that looked familiar, also in black armor but with a leather strap on his arm. Five. His head was shaved now, looking ready for tattoos, like a Mogadorian. After several tense, silent minutes, a cow that was being carried out of a greenhouse began to thrash around, as if trying to break loose. Before it could, the Mogadorian officer drew his blaster and shot it. i felt bad for it, but death was probably worse than anything the Mogadorians had planned. Again there's silence. I slowly look around for any sign of the others. There are some Mogadorians trying to fix a ship on the roof of the hangar, the usual saucer type that I've seen the Mogadorians using when they attacked us.

I turn the rifle toward the hangar door, which is open and inhale sharply. Inside, I can see a metal table with Eight's body in what looks like a body bag. Five has moved inside and is seated beside the body, head in his hands.

"Too late for guilt mother fucker," I growl.

Just as I do, the one of the doors suddenly shudders like something's hit it. Five looks over at it. After a moment, he seems to see something else, something I can't from this distance because he stands, turning toward the door and speaking. One of his eyes is covered, and I can't help but smirk. The fucker may be alive, but at least he's half blind.

"From here, I could probably..." I sight in on Five but stop.

Six and the others may be in between me and him, without me knowing. Best to hold my fire until I know where they are. I turn back to the office as he heads toward the hangar, walking in through the door and stopping, watching as Five spoke, now standing beside Eight again, staring down at the body. After a moment, Five whips around toward the officer, seeming surprised by his presence. Five says something, but I can't hear what. I look down at the rest of the clearing and realize, except for the group trying to work on the ship, the rest of the Mogadorians are gone. Maybe the officer is just collecting their spy so they can leave.

Five walks toward the door but the officer steps in his way. After a brief conversation, the officer looks around Five. Five says something, then drives the blade he used to kill Eight up into the underside of the officer's jaw. The officer drops, disintegrating slowly and leaving bones along with his uniform. Five kicks the remains aside then says something and leaves. After a moment, Nine reappears inside, and Marina a moment later, followed by Six. They walk over to the table with Eight's body and outside, the Mogadorians start to push the ship toward the hangar, apparently giving up on fixing it. I curse, looking back and forth between the Mogadorians and the hangar where Nine and Marina are hugging, apparently having made up. Just as Nine lifts Eight's body so they can leave, the Mogadorians open the door the rest of the way and freeze. I swear, my finger slipping onto the trigger as a turret drops from the bottom of the ship.

I squeeze off two rounds. One Mogadorian explodes into ash instantly. One is hit in the torso and drops, apparently not a fatal shot. The third and fourth are both blasted by the ship's turret. I blink in surprise then finish off the Mogadorian I had shot before. Once he's gone, The others stand from behind the metal table, staring at the ship as the glass over the cockpit slides open. Since it's not exactly a threat, I stand and start forward, looking around cautiously as I hurry toward the hangar where the others are climbing into the ship.

When I reach them, Marina smiles at me and motions for me to join them in the ship. So, I jump onto the saucer, and then climb into the cockpit, sitting in the only empty chair, right next to the body bag.

"That was amazing shooting James," Six says.

"That was only five hundred," I say. "I shouldn't have missed."

"You didn't," Six says.

"If I hadn't, both would have died immediately."

"Dude, you shot someone from further than a soldier in the army can," Nine says and I stare at him, deadpan.

"The army trains to three hundred yards," I say. "The Marine Corps, depending on the weapon, trains to eighteen hundred. It's not surprising that I can outshoot some soldier."

Nine blinks in surprise then rolls his eyes.

"Anyway, it was great shooting," Six says.

I sigh, glancing at Marina, who's staring at Eight's body. Terrific. Now I'm losing to a corpse.

"So, what's the story on this ship?" I ask.

"We're controlling it remotely," John's voice says.

"The hell did you learn to do that?" I ask.

"Long story," John says. "Do you remember Adam? The Mogadorian Sam's dad talked about saving him when we all told our stories?"

"Yeah," I say.

"He's here, helping us," John says. "And he saved my life."

I'm silent for a bit before shrugging.

"The more the merrier I guess," I say. "Everyone okay?"

"The Mogadorians kidnapped Ella," John says. "Aside from that, yes. For now, everyone is alive, at least."

"I could walk you through how to fly it," a clearly Mogadorian voice, obviously Adam, says. "I'd fly you remotely but hacking the ship messed with some of the autopilot protocols. I'm Adam, by the way."

"Pleasure," I say walking over to the driver's seat and motioning for Six to move. "I'm driving."

Six nods and moves back to my seat as I sit down, strapping myself in.

"Alright, let's get this puppy moving," I grin.

* * *

Read and review.


	24. Chapter 24

I do not own Lorien Legacies or any of the characters.

* * *

Cold Trip

The trip back is relatively uneventful. At first, it's both tense and tolerable, with John and Sam filling everyone in on what had happened in Chicago, Mogs breaking in and assaulting the place, the humans present fighting back, John waking up to a new scar and ending the fight then saving Bernie Kosar from near-death on the roof. Then, he describes sending Sarah on a mission with her ex, a guy named Mark James, to gather intel on government agencies that support the Mogadorians, and meet with someone who claimed to be able to help, then about John and Adam taking over a Mogadorian base in suburban DC, where we're headed. Then, Six and I take turns describing, in as little detail as possible, what had happened to us. Despite our careful choice of wording, we still feel our resident ice generator cool the inside of the ship.

Once we're done, we settle in to simply fly in silence. Flying isn't hard. In fact, it's more like a video game's controls than a vehicle. Triggers for altitude control, buttons for everything else. Easy. However, after the second hour of shivering and having goosebumps, I have to have Six take over and she has to actually pry my stiff fingers off the wheel where I'd lost feeling in them. I get up, making my way back and toward Marina. Nine, who was seated next to her, moves to Six's abandoned one, and I sit down beside Marina, resting a hand on hers. She looks over at me, the cold aura fading, but not before my hand starts to collect ice crystals.

"You okay?" I ask, knowing the answer, but not sure what else to say.

"I...no," she says.

Then, she buries her face in my chest, sobbing again. Thankfully, the cold aura she'd been giving off is gone instantly. I wrap my arms around her, shushing her, and lightly running my hand over her hair, comforting her as best I can. After a bit, she slowly stops, sitting sideways in my lap now, head resting on my shoulder. She sniffs now and then, but she's done crying. I feel the temperature in the ship starting to warm back up but my skin is at the point of cold where anything making contact with it seems to hurt. My shirt. The hairs growing out of it. Marina's hand as she slides it up over my exposed goosebumps.

"I'm sorry," she whispers. "I'm trying to control it. It's just..."

"It's alright," I smile, resting my head on hers. "It's not your fault. You'll figure it out."

"Whenever I think about..." she trailed off as the hint of a chill began to radiate off of her and I squeezed a little tighter, feeling her power fade again.

"It's alright," I whisper. "It's going to be alright. Somehow."

"At least I still have you," Marina whispered, almost too quiet for me to hear, though I see Nine grin knowingly, even before the blush spreads over my face.

I smile anyway, turning my face away from the window where I can see Nine's reflection, and rest my cheek on her head. I hear her exhale, not quite a sigh but close, and she tries to bury her head a little deeper in my neck. After a couple more minutes, her breathing evens out and I smile. Then, I turn to Nine for the inevitable.

"Bro, if you don't make a move, I'm going to kill you," Nine says.

"Nine, shut up," I say flatly. "Butt out."

"Not planning to make a move?" Nine asks, grinning wickedly.

I understand the look only when I feel Marina slowly grow tense, waiting for an answer, holding her breath. I swallow hard. I'm not entirely sure how to respond, knowing that she's listening. I can't say what I want to, without a very...cold, response.

"It's not exactly an appropriate time, wouldn't you agree?" I ask. "In light of everything?"

Nine opens his mouth to respond but then closes it again. I'm right and he knows it. Also, the temperature has dropped drastically. Again. Marina starts to push off of me and I have to clamp my teeth as they try to chatter and as frost starts to form anywhere I'm touching Marina.

"You're worried that my grief over Eight's death is confusing my feelings for you," Marina says flatly.

"Um, can we not discuss this right now?" I ask. "I'd rather do it somewhere a little less...high."

Marina looks toward Six who's shaking with shivers. Marina looks back at me, almost impassive but her eyes betraying a little bit of betrayal and hurt. The temperature begins to slowly warm but only slowly.

"I'm not confused, James," Marina continues.

I grab the sides of her head, pulling her toward me and place a light kiss on her forehead. Then, I pull her into a hug, the cold vanishing instantly.

"I know," I say. "But...it's hazardous for you. And...it's not the best time."

"Because of Eight?" Marina asks.

"Partially," I say. "Can we please talk about it once we're there? And alone?"

Out of the corner of my eye I can see Nine struggling to hold back a grin. Marina nods, arms wrapping around me anyway as she set her head back down. For the rest of the trip, we're silent. Finally, Six lands us on a basketball court and we all climb out, Nine carefully taking Eight's body with him. Just as we touch down, John and the others come out, along with a Mogadorian, obviously Adam, given he's alive. As we step off the ship, Nine looks around.

"There are creatures around us," Nine says, somewhere between curiosity and a warning.

"Oh, I forgot to mention, we have a lot more chimæra now," John says.

"So many," Nine breathes, mystified. "It's awesome."

"We named the fat lazy one after you," Sam says, grinning.

"Less awesome," Nine says.

I glance at Marina and Six. Marina is staring at Eight's body and Six is staring at Sam. I step forward, carefully taking Eight from Nine, who then walks away with John, the two of them having a joking argument already, this one about Sarah leaving with her ex. I turn to look at Marina.

"Come on," I say. "Let's go find a place to put him."

Marina nods, starting away and I follow but stop beside Six, grinning.

"Enjoy your alone time," I whisper, making her glare at me before I walk away.

Just as I reach the door to the building Marina had entered, the same that John and Nine had gone, along with Adam and Malcolm, I stop, glancing back toward the ship in time to see Six drag Sam into a not-so-gentle kiss. Then, I go inside, grinning and finding Marina waiting by the stairs.

"What?" Marina asks, confused.

"You'll see," I grin. "Find a room?"

Marina nods and we head up the stairs, stopping at a room with the curtains drawn and a bed made neatly. I set Eight's body on the bed and Marina opens the bag, staring at the body, tears sliding down her face again. This time, thankfully, there's no cold with it. I pull her into a hug, comforting her as she cries for several minutes, until wolves begin howling from the trees.

"What's that?" I ask.

"The chimæra," Marina says. "Someone's coming."

* * *

Read and review.


	25. Chapter 25

I do not own Lorien Legacies or any of the characters.

* * *

Rest

Our guests weren't Mogadorians. That's about the only good news. The visitors were government agents, led by one named Walker, the bitch responsible for me and Six's imprisonment in New Mexico, followed by our battle with Setrákus Ra. She claims to be on our side now, though none of us trust a word she says. She and the other government agents are all staying in empty houses in the suburb, and they're planning with John on how to stop the invasion. As of yet, they're plans involve the Secretary of Defense, who seems to be working with the Mogadorians.

"Do you think we can trust them?" Marina asks me.

"No," I say. "I think we should shoot them all. but I've been trained to shoot first and ask questions to anyone we miss. So for now, I think I'll take your diplomatic approach."

Marina smiles and nods, before looking across the street to the building where the access to the underground tunnels where Adam and Malcolm are watching recordings of Malcolm's time in Mogadorian custody, apparently in this place. As of yet, nothing incredibly helpful. But, he's likely going to be watching it all night, if his lack of interest in anything else is any sign. We could all use a bit of rest. Especially the Florida group. Especially Marina. However, she's determined to have the conversation I had dodged earlier. Well, partially dodged.

"I'm not confused, James," she says, breaking the silence that had settled in the room.

I sigh, staring at the floor. I really don't want to talk about this. I know she doesn't want to accept my decision, and I can't let myself be selfish.

"Marina..." I sigh again. "I know you're not confused. But...you're hurting from Eight's death. You're hurting and you feel alone without him."

"No, I don't," Marina says. "Yes, I'm hurting. We all are. But I don't feel alone. Because I have you."

She walks over, standing in front of me, turning my face toward her.

"Look me in the eye and tell me you don't want this too," she says.

I can't. I can't say it, because it's a lie. There's almost nothing I want more. And she can see that. I never could hide anything when I look people in the eye. She starts to lean in, knowing I can't say it. I feel myself leaning in too. Maybe Six is right. Maybe some things are worth the risk. Maybe I _can_ protect Marina even if I'm with her. Just an inch away now. But, then my chest constricts. I can't. Visions of Marina, broken and bloody, lying in my arms flash through my head. I can't do it. I stop, turning my head, teeth clamping down, hard.

"I'm sorry," I whisper, feeling tears stinging my eyes. "I can't. I can't be with you. I can't watch you die too."

Before Marina can say anything or stop me, I slip past her and hurry out of the room. I go two rooms down the hallway and climb out onto the roof then up to the main roof, climbing to the peak and sitting down, staring up at the stars. The tears start to fall finally, despite my best efforts, and the pain in my chest simply gets worse. After a moment, I hear Marina sobbing. The pain grows still. It tears me apart to her her cry, especially since I caused it this time. But I'd rather hurt her and have her live than to make her happy and watch her die.

"You really are a piece of work, you know that?" Nine's voice comes from behind me.

I hadn't heard him approach, but it doesn't startle me like it might have if I was in a different state of mind.

"You can protect her just as well from her side as from a distance," Nine states.

"No," I say. "I can't. I'm trained as a sharpshooter, shooting enemies that are so far away they're barely a speck by normal sight. I'm trained to kill, and to fight. I'm not trained to protect. I've never been trained to protect. That wasn't our job or our problem."

"Never too late to learn," Nine states. "You can hear her too, right? And you're just going to stay up here feeling sorry for yourself? Letting the girl you love cry? Over you?"

I don't answer.

"Fine," Nine sighs. "Stay here. I'll go comfort your girl for you."

He turns, walking away, down the side of the house. I don't move. He's right. I shouldn't be up here. And I shouldn't be feeling sorry for myself. But I can't protect Marina and be with her. No one understands. But that doesn't matter. I do. And even if no one else will listen, I'll do what I have to to keep her safe.

Eventually, I head back down into the house. I walk to the door to Marina's room and stop. Nine's still there, comforting her. Telling her things like, "He'll come around," or "Hang in there. He's just being stubborn," but his words sound almost hollow to me. Nine knows I'm not just being stubborn. I silently head back down the hallway to my room, slipping my shoes and socks off and collapsing on the bed, burying my face in the pillows. I hear footsteps in the hallway, heading to my door and stopping. I sigh. Probably Nine coming to lecture and scold me more. I roll over. John.

"Not you too," I groan.

"Me too what?" John asks. "I came to tell you that you need to come to the tunnels."

I blink in confusion before looking out the window. It's early morning. I must have passed out as soon as I hit the pillow.

"Did you wake up the others?" I ask.

"I got Adam already," John says. "I'm about to go wake up Nine and Marina."

"I'll do it," I sigh. "You go get Six and Sam."

"The chimæra are on it," John says. "I'm going back to the tunnel, I guess. Meet us down there. And hurry."

With that, he turns, leaving. I leave the room, checking the other rooms. Marina is sleeping peacefully in her bed but there's no sign of Nine. I walk in and stand beside Marina. I have to grit my teeth for a moment to keep my emotions from last night from resurfacing. I give her shoulder a gentle shake, enough to wake her.

"Marina," I say as she stirs. "We've been summoned to the tunnels by our fearless leader."

Marina stares at me for a moment before nodding, face emotionless. I open my mouth to speak but can't find anything to say. After a moment, I stand, leaving the room and climbing out onto the roof. Just as I do, a hawk flies away from the peak above me, where Nine's stretching.

"Too late," Nine says. "Already got the message. And I'm not the only one."

"Don't," I growl. "Just don't."

I walk to the edge of the roof and drop to the ground about ten feet below. Then, I head over to the house where the tunnel's access point is. After a few minutes and a couple wrong turns, I step into the room where Malcolm has been watching Mogadorian recordings. He looks like he didn't sleep the night before, unsurprisingly. Adam stands beside him with John, and a few minutes later, Hawkeye, Rookie, Marina, and Nine are also present. All that's left is Six and Sam.

"Where are they?" Hawkeye asks.

"i saw them go into one of the abandoned houses last night," Nine grins and Hawkeye chuckles. "End of the world, you know, Johnny."

"I doubt they..." John trails off as the two walk in.

Six looks fine and well rested, though it would seem she didn't get to sleep too early, judging by Sam. He's a mess, to put it nicely. He's blushing, his hair is sticking up at odd angles, and his shirt is buttoned all wrong. Before he even has time to register that we're all staring at him, Hawkeye "woop woop"s and John and Nine grin. I can't help but also grin, and see a smile flash across Marina's face as well, though it disappears as quickly as it comes. Sam turns blood red and Six glares at Hawkeye.

"You probably shoulda seen the reactions coming, eh Sam?" Nine grins.

Hawkeye opens his mouth but I beat him to speak first.

"Don't you even," I growl, pointing at him.

"He can say it if he wants to," Six says. "Of course, I might want to kill him too."

"I'm sure a lot of people want a lot of things," I say. "But a lot of people are going to be very unhappy for a very long time."

I realize I've misspoken even before the temperature drops a little, though it rises again almost instantly.

"Look, we're all aware of you and Marina's little...disagreement last night," Six says. "We're also all against you on it."

"Good to know," I growl. "Can we get back to the reason we're hear now and leave that subject alone?"

"He's right," John says. "We brought you all here because Malcolm has something to show us."

Everyone else moves to stand behind Malcolm, me at the back, since I really only need to hear the words. However, only part of my brain is listening. The rest is thinking about last night.

* * *

Read and review.


	26. Chapter 26

I do not own Lorien Legacies or any of the characters.

* * *

Jungle

It's been decided. John and Nine are going to New York with Walker to try and stop a UN conference where the Secretary of Defense would introduce Setrákus Ra and somehow make that monster look like a peaceful visitor looking for a home, while Six, Marina, and Adam go to Mexico, where, according to the recording of Malcolm we had watched, there's a Loric temple where they can supposedly bring the force that give Loric Legacies to Earth, making the humans Garde like them. Sam and Malcolm were ordered to stay, as was I. However, there's not a force on earth, except maybe Nine breaking my limbs, that will keep me from going to Mexico with Marina.

I climb into the ship as the others get ready for departure. Then, I sit in the back and wait. After a few minutes, I hear the others come out and head for the ship. Adam climbs on first, nodding as I place a finger over my lips. I grin. I'm starting to like him. The others decide what to send to Mexico and what to leave with John and Nine. From what I hear, someone's remains, other than Eight's are being brought with us, most likely in ash form if they fit in the chest, and the only things John and Nine are taking are anything resembling a weapon. After a few more moments, a chest floats up to the entrance and I take it, setting it on the floor. A few moments later, Marina climbs up and stares at me.

"We're not getting you out of the ship alive are we?" Marina asks, smiling.

"Nope," I grin. "And maybe not even dead."

Marina's smile widens before fading and she looks down at the floor, climbing down and sitting in a seat facing away from me. I sigh silently and look to my side where Eight's body is strapped in. After a few moments of Six and Sam talking, and what I am sure contains at least one kiss, Six climbs on board, takes only a fleeting glance at me, then drops down and straps herself in as well, apparently having expected me to be onboard.

"Shall we?" Adam asks.

Six nods and a moment later, we're rising into the air. The flight is actually fairly quiet. No one has much at all to say. Partially because having a Mogadorian with us and not bound in chains is a bit uncomfortable, and partially because of the tension between me and Marina. After a short while, Adam tells Marina that she can rest if she wants. She looks like she wants to say something, judging by the cold aura, probably a threat, but refrains, sitting back as the temperature continues to drop. Adam apologizing for offending her, if he had, and then points out that he had killed his own father to protect John, so there was no need to question his loyalty. However, it wouldn't be the first time someone was able to tell a lie convincingly. So I can tell neither of the other two start to trust him any more than I do. After that, the flight is quiet. I notice Six drifting off and Marina relaxes, the cold aura dissipating. Then, I'm sleeping like a log. When I wake up, it's because Adam is not sounding pleased.

"They're hailing us," Adam says.

I look around, seeing we're surrounded by four other ships. I pick up my rifle and look to the others.

"You said you're some general's son right?" Six asks. "Can't you, I don't know, throw your weight around?"

"You should know, I'm not well liked among my people," Adam says. "They may not listen."

"Worst case scenario?" I ask.

"They arrest me," Adam says.

"They'll take us where we want to go," I say. "Then we break you out and slaughter them."

Adam stares at me for a moment before nodding.

"Turn invisible," Adam says.

Six grabs me and Marina's hands and turns us invisible as Dust, the chimæra that came with us, shrinks down into a mouse and scurries under Adam's chair. Adam draws himself up as the face of a particularly ugly Mogadorian appears on the window in front of Adam. It says something in Mogadorian, glaring at Adam.

"Immersion Protocol dictates we speak in English while on Earth, you vatborn cretin!" Adam snarls, suddenly seeming as regal as a prince. "You are speaking to Adamus Sutekh, trueborn son of Andrakkus Sutekh. I am on urgent business for my father. Lead me to the Loric site immediately."

The Mogadorian looks confused, before seeming to recognize the names and suddenly looks terrified. "Yes, sir, right away!"

The ships break off, allowing us to continue. There's a wave of relief, but it's quickly swallowed up by anticipation. Whoever's in charge will probably have been informed that Adam is a traitor.

"You don't need to distract them long," Six says. "Just long enough for us to find a way into the sanctuary."

"There it is," Marina gasps.

We all look out the window, seeing the ruins of Calakmul, location, apparently, of an ancient Loric sanctuary where Marina and Six are supposed to restart Lorien on Earth. The ruin has several limestone buildings that have been worn away at for centuries by nature. Then, there's a massive temple complete with massive crumbling stairs, vines, and what looks like some kind of door on top. Round the ruin are Mogadorians. They've cleared out a ring around the temple, dozens of skimmers present and an array of tents where the Mogadorians are camping. There are some extremely excessively powerful missile launchers and blaster turrets, all turned on the temple, though there's no damage anywhere to be seen. And a few of the rockets are missing.

"That's odd," I mumble. "You'd think they'd get a bit closer. And they've fired rockets but haven't damaged anything."

"Maybe something is protecting the temple," Marina suggested. "Like a forcefield."

"Maybe," Six agrees.

We land beside our escort ship, Mogadorians beginning to gather around, all armed with blasters, and watch the ship. Adam gulps then unbuckles himself.

"I'll go first, lead them away somehow," Adam states. "You guys find a way into the sanctuary."

I nod, now visible again, and Adam opens the ship, climbing out onto the hull and surveying the Mogadorians.

"Who is in charge here?" Adam demands.

Six turns us invisible again so we can watch and we stand in time to see a female Mogadorian in a sleeveless black overcoat step forward. She has two thick braids starting on the sides of her head and wrapping around it, encircling the traditional Mogadorian tattoos, and her hands are wrapped in bandages, as though recently injured or burned.

"I am Phiri Dun-Ra, trueborn daughter of the honorable Magoth Dun-Ra," the Mogadorian declares, her bearing nearly as stiff and imposing as his. "Why have you come here Sutekh."

Something in the way she says his name catches my attention. She sounds like the name leaves a bad taste in her mouth.

"She knows," I hiss, barely loud enough for Adam to hear.

Adam either doesn't hear me or ignores me. He drops down off the ship. Since they aren't shouting, I can't hear everything he says, but I catch Beloved Leader. A tremor passes through the crowd at the mention of Setrákus Ra. The female says something, nothing I catch, and gestures at the temple. Then, just as Adam steps forward, the woman brings the blaster idly dangling at her side up, cracking Adam across the jaw with it and dropping him. All of the other Mogadorians level their blasters at him at the same time and Phiri Dun-Ra scowls at Adam and says something, probably something about knowing who he really is.

We all climb out of the ship and drop to the ground as Dust flies away as a tropical bird. As we carefully make out way away from the ship, Phiri Dun-ra begins to speak again.

"I know your father Sutekh," Phiri Dun-Ra says, projecting her voice so everyone could hear. "He's a bastard. But at least he's loyal. He believes in Mogadorian Progress."

"In fact, your father gave me this assignment," Phiri Dun-Ra continues. "I was responsible for a team that allowed a Garde to escape from the West Virginia stronghold. The punishment was either death or a journey here. Not much of a choice, really. You see, if we fail, we'll all be executed anyway. The only way to live is for us to deliver the Sanctuary."

At the word "Sanctuary," Phiri Dun-Ra dramatically gestures with her two bandaged hands at the temple. Six hesitates for a moment to listen to what else she has to say, making me and Marina stop as well.

"There's not a day goes by that I don't wonder if I made the wrong decision. Maybe a quick death would have been better. You see, Sutekh, all of us were sent here as punishment," Phiri Dun-Ra explains. "We were sent to this forsaken place to bring down the impenetrable shield that surrounds whatever spoils the Loric have hidden within. For all of us, it is our last chance to impress Beloved Leader. It's the perfect place for a traitor like you."

She crouches down in front of Adam, glaring at him.

"So, do you know the secret of the sanctuary?" Phiri Dun-Ra asks. "Have you come to redeem yourself at last?"

"Yeah," Adam growls. "If it's a forcefield, try throwing yourself at it."

I grin but it fades when Phiri Dun-Ra laughs, menacing and loud. Just like that, we're moving again. But we're not headed to the Sanctuary. We're headed for one of the mounted blasters.

"Wait," I whisper, stopping the others and using my free hand to unclip my blaster then reconnect it around Six. "Take their blasters away and I'll draw their attention away from the gun."

"You're not serious," Six growls.

"Extremely," I say. "Do it now."

Just as I release Six's hand, every single blaster in the clearing suddenly sails into the forcefield around the sanctuary, a hundred guns exploding into balls of fire as a blue barrier of electricity appears suddenly before fading again. All of the Mogadorians turn toward me, seeing me leaning on my gleaming white Mogadorian sword. I grin and tip my head as they stare at me.

"Pleasure to meet you," I say. "Sorry about your toys, I just couldn't let those interfere."

"Who the hell are you?" Phiri Dun-Ra demands.

"I'm Number Eleven," I say, smirking at the confusion on all of the Mogadorians' faces.

"Bull shit," Phiri Dun-Ra growls. "There are only nine, plus Beloved Leader's granddaughter."

"Is that right?" I grin. "Care to explain why you're all without your guns now then?"

I've been slowly pacing away from the blaster turret, the Mogadorians turning to track me. Now, out of the corner of my eye, I notice it beginning to very slowly turn toward the Mogadorians, a strong wind kicking up as it does. Apparently, it's not quiet.

"How about another demonstration then?" I shout above the wind, more than loud enough for Six to hear me. "Come on over Adam."

I extend my arm and suddenly the two Mogadorians holding Adam by the arms are wrenched free, slamming into the barrier and igniting like the tip of a match before Adam rises into the air and then speeds back to me, floating down beside me, me moving my arm accordingly to keep up the show. Finally, he lands on his feet and backs away.

"So," I say raising my sword as several Mogadorians draw their own. "What are you waiting for?"

With a near deafening battlecry, the Mogadorians charge. The turret isn't quite lined up, but I had expected that. As the Mogadorians near me, several shots ring out, Mogadorians exploding into ash just short of me. The rest slow a bit, unsure. I charge. The first line don't have time to react before I cut them down. The next line try to attack, and they all die just as they get their arms cocked back. The next Mogadorian I meet blocks my sword and throws a punch at me. I duck under it and then spin, carving my sword through his abdomen then kick him back into another Mogadorian and stab both. Just as I finish, the turret is finally aligned. I leap backward, feeling Telekinesis drag me away from the Mogadorians just as the turret roars to life, massive columns of blaster fire shredding their way through the Mogadorians. Phiri Dun-Ra turns, sprinting away instantly, but before she can get far, my rifle fires again and she drops. She doesn't dissolve, so she's not dead. But she's not escaping.

The Mogadorians are in a panic, scrambling for cover. However, given my claim, a few seem to believe I'm controlling the turret, because they sprint at me. As they do, I wave Six and Marina off, knowing they will both be ready to take the group down. I've got it handled. And I'm not alone. When the first one reaches me, I block his slash and shove it upward in time for a large falcon to swoop down and slash the Mogadorian across the eyes with its talons, doing the same to the second before taking to the air again. I quickly end the two wounded Mogadorians then duck under a sword and split that Mogadorian up the front. The last two charge together, both slashing at me. I grin, blocking the swords before ducking as Adam steps forward, removing both Mogadorians' heads with his father's much larger sword. I stand, grinning back at him.

"Nice blade," I say. "Little too big for my taste though."

"It's a bit heavy," Adam agrees. "More coming."

I turn, seeing a group of at least twenty sprinting at us, apparently having decided if I die the haunted turret will stop firing. However, before they reach us, the turret lights them up, massacring all but one, who steps out of a cloud of ash too thick to see through and onto me and Adam's swords. The ash settles and we see that the Mogadorians are all dead. All but Phiri Dun-Ra, who seems to have escaped, given the trail of blood leaving into the wilderness.

"That was fun," I grin as Six and Marina make their way over, both visible now.

"Nice fighting," Six grins. "And nice plan with the whole Number Eleven thing. That was pretty quick thinking."

"Thanks," I grin. "Who grabbed Adam and then pulled me out of the way of the turret."

"Marina both times," Six says. "I was busy with the storm the first time and the second time she beat me to it.

I nod and smile at Marina, who smiles back before we look up at the temple.

"So, should we go after the bitch?" I ask.

"No," Six says. "Something will probably eat her. And if not, we'll leave Dust out here to keep an eye out in case she doubles back."

"Alright," I nod.

"We'll keep an eye on things out here then," Adam says.

"Don't you at least want to try to go in?" Six asks after exchanging a glance with Marina.

"Are you kidding?" Adam snorts. "Did you see what it did too Phiri Dun-Ra's hands?"

I hadn't, but I remain silent. I can imagine they were quite heavily damaged, given the Mogadorians who touched it burst into flames.

"I'll heal you if that happens," Marina says.

"Like that Phiri bitch said, you're part Garde now," Six says. "You're not Loric, but you've got legacies. If we believe what Malcolm said, and I guess that's a pretty big if, there's some living part of Lorien in there. And through your Legacies, you're connected to it, just like we are."

"I'm not even supposed to have my Legacy," Adam says.

"It doesn't matter," I speak up. "Even if you can't get through, Marina will heal you and you can stay out here anyway."

"What about you?" Marina asks.

"I'm exceedingly human," I say. "No matter how many times I've been healed, I'm still exceptionally ordinary."

"I think you might be let through too," Marina says.

"Why?" I ask.

"Just a hunch," Marina says.

"I seriously doubt that," I say. "But, I suppose if worst comes to worst, you can heal the burns."

Marina nods and Six gives her a strange look.

"Are you sure about that?" Six asks. "Because I think James is right. I think he's completely incapable of getting through."

Marina simply gestures for Six to go through. Six sighs and complies, stepping through the forcefield. There's a quiet sizzle of static electricity before she's through, some of her hair standing on end from it. Before anyone else goes through, Marina uses telekinesis to float both the chest and Eight's body over to Six. Six takes the chest as Marina lays Eight's body down gently. Then, she takes off the pendants she's wearing and slips them over my head. Adam goes next, reaching out cautiously with his index finger. When it touches the barrier, there's a loud snap of electricity and he pulls his arm back. After a moment, he steps forward, hand extended. The forcefield snaps and crackles a whole lot louder than when Six stepped through, but it doesn't harm Adam. That just leaves me and Marina.

"So, how do we-"

Before I can finish, she wraps her arms around me, walking at the portal. I reach out with a hand and regret it. The moment my fingers touch the barrier, it feels like I'm pushing them through thick mud. It fights it and I can see my skin slowly burning. I'm not, however, exploding into flames, so it's a plus. Hopefully, it stays that way.

"Keep going," I growl, trying to force my hand through. "Just be ready to heal me on the other side. Quickly."

Marina nods just as Six yanks at us both with her Telekinesis. The pain is unimaginable. I don't ignite, but I get the feeling my skin is practically burned off. I suspect I look something like Freddy Krueger. Marina instantly begins healing me, looking like she wants to apologize but also looking slightly dazed and unfocused. The cold feeling I'm used to spreads through my body, but the pain doesn't. I look down. I'm not healing.

"Marina?" Adam speaks, breaking her out of her trance.

The pain is immediate as I begin to heal, my skin regrowing. After several minutes of agony, I'm healed and sit up. Marina stands and walks over to Eight, unzipping the body bag enough to expose his face before levitating it beside herself.

"Marina, are you okay?" I ask.

"I'm fine," Marina says.

"Really because you just dragged the guy you're in love with through a forcefield that could have killed him," Six says.

"Wait, that wasn't you?" I blink.

"No," Six says, shaking her head. "It was Marina."

I turn to Marina again but she's already started up the stairs. We follow but just as we reach the steps, the pendants around my neck begin to glow, floating up in front of us. Six's pendant does the same. I catch up to Marina and look over at her, seeing an odd and somehow frightening look of complete peace on her face.

"Marina, what's going on?" I ask. "I could have waited outside. Why argue so strongly that I should come? Why throw me through like that?"

"You said to get you through," Marina says. "And I knew it wouldn't kill you. I don't know how. But I did."

I swallow hard before sighing and shaking my head.

"Well, can you do me a favor and warn me next time you want to do something like that?" I ask.

She doesn't respond. I stop, shaking my head before continuing. I suppose it doesn't matter now. I'm through. And now we just need to climb this unbelievably massive pyramid.

* * *

Read and review.


	27. Chapter 27

I do not own Lorien Legacies or any of the characters.

* * *

Legacy

A half hour. It took us a half hour of climbing the steepest staircase I've ever seen to reach the top. I am so never complaining about working legs in the gym again. We're all drenched in sweat from the climb, Marina even more so since she's been carrying Eight's body with her Telekinesis for the entire time. But we're finally at the top.

In front of us, the top of the pyramid is flat and with nothing there but a disconnected doorway. It's not the same material as the temple. It's smooth and unblemished, where the pyramid is weathered badly. There's no obvious way to open the door, except for none round holes in the door.

"The pendants," Six says.

I pull the two Marina gave me over my head and push one in. There's a click from somewhere in the door but nothing happens.

"We need nine," I say. "We have three."

"You're right," Six nods. "But we have to try something."

I nod, placing my other pendant as Six places hers. Instantly, the pendants and the door begin to glow. Then, the door slides downward, into the temple, grinding against the temple as it does. However, instead of the other side of the pyramid, as we should see, all we see is a dusty room, lit by a dull blue glow, like the pendants had before the door sunk.

"Teleporting into another room huh?" I muse. "Figures."

Six nods and I pick up the chest she's put down, looking to Marina. She nods, walking over with Eight's body, then walking through the door with him. Six follows, then me, and Adam brings up the rear. We look around, our ears popping. Along with it, is the disorienting sensation that Eight teleporting me had caused, though, not as bad as being thrown partway through. And the feeling only lasts for the briefest of moments before it's done, and the room is completely silent, aside from our breathing. There sounds of the jungle are completely sealed out. It would seem we're either deep in he temple, or even further down. As soon as Adam is through, the doorway out vanishes, the nine indents remaining and the pendants clattering to the floor. Six grabs them quickly and I stare at the empty wall.

"Terrific," I sigh. "Now I feel claustrophobic."

I turn around, surveying the room, not listening to the others as they discuss the ancient Loric creating the room. It a large rectangular room with a high ceiling and absolutely no way out. There is Loralite all across the room in chaotic patterns, making absolutely no sense to me.

"It's the Universe," Adam breathes after a moment of silence. "It's...more than we know. The Mogadorian star maps don't cover this much."

I stare at him a moment before turning back to the glowing mess of stone supposedly a depiction of the universe. I suppose I can see where the glowing stones, probably stars or planets, spiral together in places. But there's so much. The entire massive room is covered in it. It would be impossible to tell what's what. Except, for a Loric, apparently. Six walks along the wall for a moment before touching a glowing stone and claiming to have found Lorien. Adam then points to the only section of the mural that has absolutely no Loralite.

"Our home," Six mutters.

"My home," Adam grumbles. "At least your ancestors got the forbidding darkness thing right."

"Those aren't our homes anymore," Marina says, trailing her hand along the wall before stopping at one spot that glowed brighter than the others. "This is."

I suppose that makes the spot Earth. As soon as Marina's fingers touch it, the Loralite glows a little brighter, and energy crackles. Then, something below us begins to move. The others stumble back to the wall, but I don't bother. It's a Loric Sanctuary right? If I survived the forcefield, what's the worst that could happen. The Loralite glows brighter as the shaking grows stronger. Then, a circular section of the limestone floor rises, a Loralite cylinder below it. It stops about waist high and I glance at the others, who look as confused as me. I walk over, resting my hand on the limestone on top of what appears to be a Loralite well. There are drawings around the base. Nine silhouettes floating over Earth with nine more standing on it. One nondescript silhouette dumping a chest into a well. Nine silhouettes fighting what looks kind of like a three headed dragon.

"I think they're instructions," I say. "Though, I really only understand two of the pictures."

"Is this where we...um...commit our Inheritances to the Earth?" Six asks.

Marina nods, setting Eight's body down and using her Telekinesis to push the Limestone off the well, the ancient stone crumbling as it hits the ground. A nearly blinding column of blue light flows out, almost like a spotlight, and we shield our eyes. I open the chest and Marina scoops out several gemstones, dumping them into the well. They glitter and flash as they fall, and the Loralite on the walls seems to glow a bit brighter.

"Help me Six," Marina says.

I set the chest down and Six grabs a pouch from the chest, dumping soil out of it, into the well. Suddenly, the room smells like a greenhouse. Marina follows it up with a bundle of dried leaves and sticks. As they fall, they almost look green and alive. Then, a gentle breeze is blowing in the room, cooling us down. The Loralite continues to grow brighter.

"It's working," Six says.

I kneel down, scooping up handfuls of whatever's left and the others follow suit. Within a matter of seconds, the chest is finally empty. Six holds out a coffee can, opening it and pouring ashes into the well. The ashes spark as they fall into it.

"Should we..." Six trails off, inclining her head toward Eight.

"I'm not ready yet Six," Marina says, looking down at Eight and shaking her head.

"There's nothing else to do," Six points out, looking around from the bright-as-the-sun well that doesn't hurt to look at somehow, to the flashing Loralite on the walls. "It's time."

"The pendants Six," Marina says. "We have to give it the pendants."

"Hold on," Adam says, stepping forward, finally snapped out of his state of awe. "If you drop those pendants, we're trapped."

"I doubt it," I say. "This is supposed to help the Garde. I doubt they'd leave them trapped down here and unable to finish fighting the war."

Adam opens his mouth to speak, but then closes it again and nods. Apparently, he's willing to take it on faith, no matter what his Mogadorian instincts say. Six holds out the pendants, staring at them for a moment before dropping them. The reaction is immediate. The light flashing, painfully blinding and we all shield our eyes. There's a massive whoosh of air, like a tornado touching down beneath the Earth. Or a gasp for breath. Then, a massive baritone thump echoes somewhere below us, sending vibrations up my body. Then, it happens again. Like a cycle, slowly speeding up. Repeating in sets of two. A heartbeat. Earth, has a heartbeat. After a time, I'm not sure how long, the light finally fades and I lower my hand, only to shout in surprise and stagger backward, falling onto my rear beside Adam, who's on his knees, staring at something just over the well in awe, the same thing that made me stagger back. Eight is floating over the well, bathed in the blue light from the well. When my vision had returned, his face had been startlingly close to mine, an expression somewhere between anger and distrust on his face.

"Is this you?" Six asks Marina.

Marina shakes her head, staring at Eight. That's fair. He's not only staring at me, but he's also making faces. And glowing. His eyes are pure Loralite, though I can tell it's me he's staring at. He opens his mouth and the blue glow of Loralite floods out.

"You're not Garde," he accuses, one hand raising to point at me.

His voice is melodic. Beautiful. Though, it somehow fills me with fear at the moment. In his sleep, whatever it is inhabiting Eight's body created a forcefield that should have killed me, and almost did. Awake, he could probably snap his fingers and light me on fire.

"No, I'm not," I agree.

Marina steps forward, clearing her voice. "Eight? Is that you?"

Eight stares at her for a moment, Eight's wound glowing beneath his shirt.

"No, he's gone," the thing in Eight's body says gently. "I'm sorry Daughter. He is with me now. He does me a service by allowing me to speak through him. It has been a long time since I've had a voice."

"Are you Lorien?" Six asks. "Like...the planet?"

The thing seems thoughtful for a moment before saying, "I was once called that yes. I have been called other things, in other places. Now, here, I will be called something else."

"You're a god," Six says.

"No. I simply am."

It turns back to me, once again seeming less than pleased to see me.

"How is it you entered this sanctuary, through the barrier protecting it?" It asks. "It was meant to keep anyone without my spark inside them out."

"I honestly don't really know," I say.

"It was me," Marina says. "I brought him through the barrier, then healed what damage it did."

"Interesting," the thing, the entity, says. "Why would you do that?"

"He's been a friend for a very long time, and has helped us and saved our lives a million times over," Marina says. "It just didn't seem fair that he had to sit outside for this."

"I see," the Entity says. "Very well."

"Do you know what's happening?" Six asks. "The Mogadorians are invading."

"Not all of them, I see," the Entity says, looking now at Adam, who looks exceedingly uncomfortable. "Yes, they are coming. They're leader has chased me for a very long time. Your Elders sought to protect me. They placed me here, in hopes it would delay him."

"It didn't go so hot," Six says, and Marina elbows her.

"So many of my children, gone forever," the Entity says sadly. "I suppose you would be the Elders now, if such a thing still existed."

"We're Garde," Six corrects the ageless, borderline god floating before her. "We're here for your help."

Correcting it and making demands all in one breath. Gotta respect Six's guts. The Entity actually chuckles.

"It does not matter to me, Daughter. Elders, Garde, Cêpan...that is just how the Loric decided to understand my gifts. It does not have to be that way here. It does not have to be any way." It pauses. "As for help, I do not know what help I can give."

"That's not good enough!" Six yells, taking a step forward, energy crackling and some of her hair standing on end. "We've come far to awaken you! We've lost people! You have to be able to do something! Or are you cool if Setrákus Ra marches down here and destroys the Earth? You going to let that happen twice on your watch?"

The Entity's brow furrows and a crack splits open on Eight's forehead, the body apparently unable to contain the power of a godlike force for a prolonged period. Marina covers her mouth in surprise and a little horror, but doesn't cry out.

"I'm sorry Daughter," the Entity says to Marina. "This form cannot contain me for long."

"I do not condone the senseless destruction of life," the Entity says, turning back to Six, sounding as patient as ever. "However, I do not choose fates. I do not judge. If it is the will of the Universe that I cease to be, then I will cease. I exist only to bestow my gifts to those who are open to them."

"So, you're a pacifist fatalist," I surmise. "We can beg and plead for help until we turn blue in the face, but you won't help us."

"Yes," the Entity confirms, seeming exceptionally neutral to my presence now. "But not because I wish you any ill will. Simply because it is not my purpose to."

"Then give me legacies," Six invites, spreading her arms. "I'm open to them. Load me up! Give me enough to kill Setrákus Ra and I'll leave your glowing ass alone!"

"It doesn't work that way," the Entity intones, smiling, even as more cracks split open on the backs of Eight's hands.

"Then how the hell does it work!?" Six demands. "Tell us what to do!"

"There is nothing left to do, Daughter," the Entity states. "I am of the Earth now, and so are my gifts."

He turns to Marina, ignoring Six as she demands to know what the hell he's talking about.

"He won't have long, Daughter," the Entity says.

"Who won't?" Marina asks as my eyes widen.

Not sure how, but I sense a shift in the Entity. Or rather, Eight suddenly seems more familiar than a moment ago. The Entity closes his eyes, Eight's body trembling as the light recedes from it, the cracks closing up, the only thing still glowing being the wound. Then, Eight floats forward, landing on his feet in front of Marina. Finally, his eyes open. Green and with a spark of his old mischief. Eight has returned.

"Wow, hi," Eight greets Marina.

Marina sobs in delight, grabbing Eight by the shoulders, then by the face, pulling him closer.

"You're warm," she breathes, awed. "You're so warm."

Eight laughs, placing a hand over Marina's and kissing the side of it.

"You're warm too."

"I'm sorry Eight," Marina says, beginning to cry again. "I couldn't heal you."

"Stop it Marina," Eight says firmly. "You brought me here. It's...I can't even explain it. It's amazing in there."

The energy at Eight's heart begins to spread outward, fissures opening in his arms and legs. Looks like the Entity wasn't kidding when he said Eight wouldn't have long.

"Can I kiss you?" Marina asks.

"I really wish you would."

And she does. She pulls him to her, kissing him and wrapping her arms around him. I look away. Partially because I still can't bear to see them kiss, and partially because it seems wrong of me to watch. Especially after the other night. Guilt spreads through me at the thought.

"Hey."

It's Eight. I look back at them, seeing him grinning knowingly at me. A slight blush actually manages to make it to my face before I fight it back.

"Take good care of her," Eight says, looking serious, yet still grinning.

"I will," I nod.

Eight grins again. "And stop with that curse bullshit. I died because I made a decision to protect Nine. Besides, I'm watching over you two now. Nothing's going to hurt her again."

Just what I need. As if her having feelings for Eight and my curse weren't motivating enough for me to be with her, now there's the thought that Eight is watching everything we do. Joy of Joys. I stare at him, before also beginning to grin. I can't help it. It's infectious. But then, the other night returns and my face falls. The energy is beginning to make Eight disintegrate now, though not like a Mogadorian, more like every cell is visible for a moment. Marina tries to cling to him but her hands pass through him.

"Don't worry about what happened," Eight's voice says as the light begins to fade, his voice growing fainter as it did. "It didn't change anything."

And then, he's gone. I stare at the spot he was for a long while, the others doing the same. Then, Marina collapses against Six, sobbing hard. I feel fresh air and turn to look, seeing a staircase in the wall that definitely wasn't there before.

"We should go," Adam says. "The others will need our help."

I nod, agreeing, since we got absolutely no help from the Entity. Though, there was a plus side, since I'm pretty sure I got Eight's blessing, not that it's changed my decision in any way. And Marina finally got closure over Eight's death.

"I saw it Six," Marina breathes. "When I kissed him, I saw inside that thing. It's spreading, all over the world."

"And what does that mean?" Six asks.

"It means, we're not alone anymore," Marina says, pushing herself up, smiling.

I smile, happy that she's alright. Then, we all climb the stairs.

* * *

Read and review.


	28. Chapter 28

I do not own Lorien Legacies or any of the characters.

* * *

Bitch Hunt

I follow the others up the staircase, exiting last and seeing Marina glance back at the stairs, probably not even seeing me, her face serene, despite the tears in her eyes. I walk over next to Six and look out at the world around us. Completely unchanged. Terrific. I'm not sure what I expected to happen. Maybe the entity would generate Loralite weapons for us that would supercharge the Garde's legacies. Maybe send bolt of Loric energy to blast the Mogadorian ships into oblivion. Maybe just a way to get to the others before the battle started, if it hasn't already.

But there's nothing. The jungle is just as ungodly hot and humid as before. The insects are still a problem. I freeze, not even swatting at them. Insects? Shouldn't the barrier keep them out? I shake my head, swatting a mosquito before it can bite me then notice the others walking away. I follow, stopping as we near the barrier but they keep going, looking around when the barrier doesn't flare to life as they pass where it should be. I walk over, carefully stepping across the line but it is, in fact, gone. I sigh in relief then look to the others.

"Guess it doesn't need protecting," Six guesses.

"Or it just diverted its power," Marina says. "When I kissed Eight, I saw inside the thing in the well. I could see its energy spreading outward, but now it's spread thin. Maybe it just can't power its defenses here."

"What exactly do you mean spreading?" I ask.

"It's hard to explain," Marina said. "It's kind of like it spread a blanket over the planet, then the planet absorbed it."

"Does that mean new Garde?" I ask.

"Probably," Six nodded. "Hey, maybe you have powers."

I quirk and eyebrow at her before snorting in laughter.

"I doubt it," I snort. "I'm not so lucky."

"You never know," Six shrugs. "You did get through the barrier."

I shrug then look to Adam.

"We should go meet up with the others," I say.

He nods and we all head to the ship. We stop just outside, however, and Adam looks around.

"Where's Dust?" Adam asks.

I blink in confusion before remembering the Chimæra we left to guard the ship. I look around as well but there's no sign of the animal.

"Maybe he went after that Mogadorian woman," I suggest.

"He wouldn't just run off like that," Adam says. "Dust! Come on Dust!"

He and Marina fan out to search and Six and I climb onto the skimmer to search, me using my rifle's scope. After a moment, I spot a small grey bird scrambling out from under a log, except, it's twisted as twitching, like it's having a seizure.

"Is that him?" I call out, pointing to the bird.

Marina and Adam sprint over, then Adam returns, carrying the bird.

"I think it's him," Adam nods.

"What the hell happened to him?" Six asks.

"I don't know," Adam said shaking her head. "He looks like the Chimæra did after I saved them from Plum Island. They were experimented on."

Marina heals Dust but it only effects the scratches covering his body. He's still paralyzed.

"We can't do anything more for him here," Six says. "Let's get in the air and out of this jungle."

I can't help but agree. We all climb into the ship, Adam wrapping Dust in a blanket to try and make him comfortable, then sitting behind the controls as Six pulled out the satellite phone, calling John, who didn't answer.

"How worried should we be that he's not answering?" Marina asks.

The Skimmer's engine suddenly makes a strange stuttering noise as the lights begin to flicker erratically. I block out Six and Marina's talking, focusing on deciding whether or not the ship's about to explode.

"What's wrong with it?" I ask, Adam glancing at me, Six and Marina doing the same, noticing something's off for the first time.

"I don't know," Adam says turning the engine off.

Below us, something clangs as though it's not catching.

"Sounds like something's broke, or missing," I suggest. "I'm not an expert on Mogadorian engines but it sounds like something's not catching."

Adam nods, opening the cockpit again and he and I climb out, dropping to the ground under the ship and looking up at it. There's a bent panel and it practically falls off when Adam touches it. He stares up at it for a moment, less than pleased. I look up into the opening and whistle. The engine is slightly bigger than that of a pickup truck. However, it's much more complicated. As in, what I'm looking at is a bunch of overlapping spheres on one side, a gap, and a bunch of exposed wires and cables.

"That's...impressive," I mutter. "If it was a human engine, I'd say there was something missing because there are exposed wires."

"Good guess," Adam smirks. "There's supposed to be a conduit here."

He waves his hand through the gap.

"One guess who took it," I snort.

He nods. It was Phiri Dun-Ra. We both wordlessly move to two more Skimmers, both apparently missing the same part, because I see a gap and when I move on to another, so does Adam. After a few minutes, we've checked them all, and they're all the same. Or at least, all the ones I checked are.

"What's the problem?" Marina asks as we get back.

"They're all missing a conduit and can't run without it," I summarize, since I really don't understand or need to understand.

It's missing a part and it won't run. All I need to know.

"The Mog bitch?" Six asks.

Adam nods.

"Can you rig something up?" Six asks.

"Depends on what we can scrounge up," Adam sighs. "But I'm not a mechanic."

"Well, guess that leaves option B," I shrug as I feel cold radiate from Marina.

She's got the idea.

"Let's go hunting," Marina growls.

It's starting to get dark already so I grab us each an electric lantern, making sure they all work, then return to the others.

"Every warrior in her class is trained in surveillance," Adam is saying.

"We know," Six says dryly. "Your people have been following us since we were children."

"If we go in after her, she'll move," Adam says. "Stay ahead of us. She has a lot of jungle to hide in. But it'll be her instinct to stay close. Keep an eye on us."

"So we draw her out," Marina says.

"You know a good way to do that?" Six asks Adam.

"Bait," I speak up, setting the lanterns down. "We'll give her the one thing she can't resist. A vulnerable Garde."

"And which of us do you expect to risk our lives?" Marina asks, sounding somewhere between incredulous and hurt.

"Me," I say. "She remembers my display and believes I'm the eleventh Garde. I'll branch off from the rest of you and draw the bitch out. Then, when she comes to get me, you three catch her. And, on the off chance she gets a lucky shot in, you'll be able to heal me because you're not being shot at."

Marina nods, staring at the ground, seeming guilty for getting mad. I smile at her and stand, picking up the light then grin.

"Alright," I say, speaking louder than before. "Let's go get this bitch!"

I spin, sprinting into the trees, whooping and cheering as I run. Then, I carefully trip myself so my lantern smashes.

"James?" Marina calls out from off to one side.

"Here!" I call back.

"Quit yelling!" Six scolds from Marina's direction. "Where are you?"

"This way!" I shout back, beginning to walk.

I know they'll stay close enough to react, but I need to be separate enough for Phiri Dun-Ra to attack me. Quite the positive thought that. Suddenly, a twig snaps behind me and I spin. A bird flies into the air, squawking then dive bombing a bush, coming away with a rat. I sigh, chuckling to myself then turning back around. As I do, a blaster shot flies out of the brush in front of me, hitting me in the shoulder, making me shout in pain as I fall. The reaction is instant. Phiri rushes forward to finish me but before she can, Marina sprints out of the shadows, tackling her and knocking the blaster away before securing her with ice restraints. Then, she hurries over to me, healing me. I stand as the others rush out of the trees. Phiri spits at me and I shake my head, walking over and gripping her by the face.

"Where are the parts Phiri Dun-Ra?" I growl. "Where'd you hide the conduits?"

Phiri spits on my hand but her eyes flash to a log off to the side. I turn to look at it and grin then turn back to her.

"Why thank you," I grin. "Now, it's about time you die."

"No," Marina says. "We've already captured her. Don't execute her."

"If she lives, she'll cause countless problems in the future," I state.

"We'll deal with her later," Marina says. "We're not executioners."

"Alright," I sigh, dropping her and wiping the spit off my hand on her shoulder before walking over to the log with Adam, pulling the duffel bag out.

I reach for the zipper but stop as Phiri Dun-Ra screeches about war having already reached Earth. I step away from the duffel bag, glaring at her.

"She's lying," Adam says, now kneeling beside the bag, struggling with the zipper. "It's what she does."

He tugs again but its caught on something. I could swear I see something sticking out of the zipper. Hairs. Or copper wires.

"Wait, stop!" I shout, taking a step forward just as Adam yanks the bag open.

Something in the bag clicks, a timer being engaged. Adam reacts instantly, shoving the bag away, the ground beginning to rise up around it, even as he slams his shoulder into me, throwing me away from the bag, someone's telekinesis pulling me at the same time. Then, the bag turns into an orange fireball. I crash into someone, not sure who. My left palm suddenly feels like its on fire, and I can feel something solid and cold against the front of my neck. My head is swimming from the blast. I can barely even think. I know I can't breathe, though, and react by kicking off the ground, driving my head up into Phiri's nose. She shouts in pain and I scramble out of her grip before kicking her in the jaw, knocking her out.

"Stay with me!" Marina shouts.

I tun, looking around. Six is struggling to her feet, a large chunk of metal buried deep in her thigh. Marina is crouched over Adam, trying to heal him. I stumble over to Six, allowing her to support herself on me, taking a moment to inspect the deep gash across my palm. Then I help Six over to Adam and Marina. Adam, having remained in front of the bomb, was eviscerated. His abdomen looks like someone had scooped it out completely. He was conscious, miraculously. He couldn't speak, and blood kept bubbling out of his mouth, but he was conscious. Marina places her hands down, Adam's body beginning to knit itself back together slowly. Then, a piece of him sparked and hissed before disintegrating. Marina flinched, pulling back, shouting in surprise.

"What was that?" Six asks.

"I don't know," Marina says. "Something's fighting me. I'm afraid I'm hurting him."

The moment she pulls away, he begins to bleed again. I grab her hands, placing them back on the wound instantly.

"Don't stop," I say. "No matter what. You can save him if you don't stop."

Marina nods, beginning again. She screws her face up in strain, clearly putting more effort into it than normal. Another section sparks and disintegrates, then another. However, after that, the rest heals as though it had never happened. When she's finally finished, Marina falls back onto her hands, panting and drenched in fresh sweat. After a moment, Adam pushes himself up, staring at his abdomen that had been completely missing a moment earlier.

"Thank you," Adam said finally.

"Don't mention it," Marina sighs.

"Now that that's over, do you mind?" Six asks.

Marina groans but nods, turning to Six. Before anyone can even consider pulling out the metal, Six grabs it and wrenches it free, throwing it aside and shouting in pain. Marina quickly heals her, her leg sealing up much faster than Adam's abdomen. Then, she heals me, my hand healing faster still. Once she's finished with all of that, I help her to her feet and we start to make our way back to the skimmers.

"What was that?" Marina asks as we walk. "Why was it so hard?"

"I don't know," Adam says.

"You disintegrated a little," Marina says. "Like you were dying."

"I was dying," Adam points out. "But that shouldn't happen to me. The vatborn you've fought disintegrate because they're made entirely from Setrákus Ra's genetic experimentation. Some trueborn get augmented by it but I've never had it done. At least..."

"Nothing you know of," Six finishes.

"Probably when you were connected to Number One," I guess.

"Maybe," Adam nods.

I look back, thinking about the conduit, only to be greeted by the sight of Six floating Phiri along with her telekinesis. I raise an eyebrow at her and she shrugs.

"We'll keep her where we can keep tabs on her and we'll decide what to do with her once she's awake," Six explained.

I nodded, still feeling like we should kill her and be done with it, but I knew Marina wanted to spare her so I didn't say anything. I had a feeling it'd be a long night.

* * *

Read and review.


	29. Chapter 29

I do not own Lorien Legacies or any of the characters.

* * *

Decision

I lean forward as Adam turns a dial, static emanating from the speaker on the dash. Six had had the idea to have Adam listen in on the warships to know what was going on. It was a fair idea, really. But so far we had had no luck. Finally, a Mogadorian voice begins to bark out seemingly random noises in his harsh native language. We sit in silence, waiting for our own Mogadorian to translate.

"You gonna translate?" Six asks, nudging Adam who's staring at the speaker like it's possessed.

"How bad is it?" I ask, instantly recognizing the expression.

"Moscow, moderate resistance," Adam begins, swallowing hard. "Cairo, no resistance. Tokyo, no resistance. London, moderate resistance. New Delhi, moderate resistance. Washington D.C., no resistance. Beijing, high resistance. Preservation protocols lifted-"

"What are these?" Six interrupts. "Their attack plans?"

"Their status reports," I speak up, feeling sick. "Jesus they're already invading."

"I thought we had more time!" Marina gasps.

"John attacking Setrákus must have jumpstarted it," I guess.

"Possibly," Adam nods.

"What did it mean by preservation protocols?" Six asks. "It said they were lifted in Beijing."

"Preservation protocols are Setrákus Ra's way of keeping the Earth intact for long-term occupation," Adam explains, and I laugh humorlessly, suddenly feeling cold.

"What?" Six asks.

"They're destroying it," I say, shaking my head. "They're destroying Beijing."

Adam nods solemnly before tensing, eyes widening before he spins the dial, turning the Mogadorian's voice down.

"Now what?" I ask.

"New York..." Adam swallows hard. "New York, Garde-assisted resistance..."

"That's John!" Six says excitedly but Adam shakes his head and my stomach drops.

"Guards-assisted resistance overcome," Adam says, voice barely above a whisper. "Incursion successful."

"What...what does that mean?" Six asks.

"It means they've won," Adam says. "They've conquered New York."

Before anyone realizes she moved, Six puts her fist through the speaker. Adam shouts in surprise, leaping out of the seat. Marina tries to hug Six but she shrugs her off, climbing out of the skimmer.

"Six!" Marina says. "It's not over! they haven't won!"

Six ignores her. She stands on the edge of the skimmer, rage boiling out of her. I climb up after her, grabbing her arm before she can go after Phiri Dun-Ra.

"Six, calm down!" I snap.

"It's over!" Six snaps. "We failed them! They're probably-"

"You have no scars!" I shout over her, making her blink in surprise.

"Not all of them-"

"Sam is fine!" I interrupt, feeling bad for letting my own anger out at her, but it works.

Six calms slightly, or rather, she starts crying. I wrap my arms around her, letting her cry on my shoulder.

"John's not going to let anything happen to Sam," I say. "Hell, for all we know, Sam got a dozen awesome Legacies from that thing in the temple and he's keeping John alive."

Six manages a laugh and pushes herself off my shoulder, wiping her eyes and nodding.

"Next time we see him he'll probably be throwing Mogadorians around with his mind," Six smiles.

"Exactly," I grin. "Who deserves Legacies more than him?"

"No one," Six nods. "Thanks."

"Of course," I nod. "Now, Adam, can you try and make a replacement from the other Skimmers?"

"I'll try," Adam nods climbing out of the ship.

He walks away to gather pieces of the other ships and Six goes to take stock of what the Mogadorians left for us. I sigh, sitting down where I am and resting my head in my hands. Marina climbs up to sit beside me, wrapping her arms around me.

"Are you alright?" Marina asks.

"I had family in New York," I whisper. "I had friends in Beijing. And..."

"I'm sure Hawkeye and Rookie are okay," Marina says. "They all are. "John wouldn't let anything happen to the others."

I nod. She's right, I hope. But still, it's hard to accept that your home planet is ending.

"I promise we'll see them again," Marina says. "We just have to wait for Adam to fix our ship and we'll leave."

I nod and stand, helping her up. Then, I go to visit our prisoner. Not for any real reason, I'm just getting tired of her watching us.

"Well well, a visit from the human," Phiri Dun-Ra grins. "I'm honored. To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"What's his plan?" I ask. "Is he coming here?"

Phiri Dun-Ra grins. I swallow hard just as Marina steps up beside me.

"What's wrong?" Marina asks.

"Nothing," I say. "Just asking our friend here to take a nap."

Marina seems to understand why I came over here originally and steps forward, tearing a strip of cloth from Phiri Dun-Ra's uniform and uses it to blindfold her. Then, she steps back, looking to me. I grin and nod and Marina smiles then walks toward the temple. She sits down facing it, as though planning to meditate, or pray.

"You can't protect her," Phiri says. "She's going to die."

"Shut it," I growl. "I'm less merciful than her."

"What, you going to kill me?" Phiri laughs. "I bet she'd like that."

I spin, my fist colliding with the side of her head and she's out like a light, blood dripping from her mouth. I'm actually surprised my hand doesn't hurt much from the punch, but I just assume that it's adrenaline, or that I'm not paying it much mind. I turn and walk over to Adam and watch him work for a while. He hammers and bends seemingly random parts into odd shapes, throwing away failed attempt after failed attempt. He finally sighs and sets the parts down.

"I'm going to go and check on Dust," he growls as he walks away.

I step up to the table, staring down at the things he's collected. Metal plate, computer casing, lamp battery, disassembled blaster, assorted pieces of engine and electrical wires from dash boards. I shake my head, well beyond being able to figure out how all of this is supposed to make a conduit. I turn, walking over to Six who smirks at me.

"How come you get to hit her and I don't?" Six asks.

"She wouldn't stop talking," I shrug. "Anyway, what do we have?"

"More blasters than the government could ask for," Six shrugs. "There's some C4 left, maybe a dozen bricks. And then there's the other two heavy cannons. Plus the ship weapons, which I think might work still, maybe."

"Well, we're ready for a fight," I laugh, then glance at the pyramid. "Shame that thing didn't help us much."

"No doubt," Six nods. "Just one of us being able to fly would be invaluable right now."

I nod as well. Then I look back at the blasters Six laid out in nice neat rows of ten.

"So, more importantly, when are you going to follow Eight's advice?" Six asked, grinning, despite the situation.

"I think there are more pressing matters than my relationship with Marina, don't you?" I ask, regretting my wording when Six's grin widens.

"So there is a relationship," Six grins.

"You know what I mean Six," I grumble.

"And you know what I'm going to say," Six says, crossing her arms.

"Your curse is bull crap and you should stop keeping her at arms reach because everything's going to be fine," I say and she nods. "And then I tell you that you're wrong and we stop talking to each other for a few hours. Look, Six, I appreciate you trying to talk me into being happy, and I appreciate you caring about whatever is between, don't start, between me and Marina, but I can't and you know it."

"Alright," Six sighed, hands raised. "I'm going to try to sleep. You should go make sure she's alright. She had friends in New York too, you know."

I nod and Six walks away, toward our skimmer. I sigh, walking over to sit beside Marina, seeing her mouth moving slightly. After a minute, she opens her eyes and smiles over at me.

"I decided to try praying," Marina admits.

"Good," I smile. "Honestly I think we need it."

Marina's smile widens and she nods before looking at the temple.

"Want to go see if it's talk to us?" I ask and she nods.

We stand and walk back to the stairs, slowly making our way down the steps, descending back to the room where the well was. It's exactly as it was before, still glowing slightly, the walls glowing brighter. We walk to the well and I can't help but look down into it, seeing something glowing far below it.

"Um, hello?" I call down the well. "Lorien's spirit, or ghost? Whatever you are?"

Nothing, shockingly.

"Lorien?" Marina tries. "We need your help. We need a way to get out of here, to get to New York City fast...Please? We need guidance. Please, we don't know what else to do."

Nothing. Again.

"Well, it was worth a shot," I sigh. "Come on. It's late. We should try and sleep."

Marina nods and we head back up to the rest of the world. We walk away from the temple in silence, not speaking until we reach one of the skimmers, climbing into it. There aren't any chairs in this one, except the pilot's seat, the rest probably having been removed by the mogadorians to make room for explosives or maybe by Adam for a replacement conduit.

"You think Adam can make the replacement?" Marina asks.

"I'm not sure," I admit. "He's not a mechanic. And I have no idea how to help him or I would."

"I'm sure everything will work out," Marina smiles.

I nod, smiling back and sit at the back of the ship against the wall. Marina sits sideways in my lap, wrapping her arms around me and resting her head on my shoulder. I wrap my arms around her, resting my chin on top of her head, and smile.

"Maybe by the time we wake up we'll be in the air," Marina smiles.

"Maybe," I smile, praying she's right.

She drifts off soon but I find it impossible. No matter how hard I try, I can't find enough peace to rest. After a few hours, Marina stirs, turning her face into me to yawn then sitting up and giving me a knowing look.

"You didn't sleep at all did you," she asks.

I shake my head and look up at the lightening sky above us. It's not quite morning but it will be soon.

"I'm going to go and check on Dust," I say. "Then probably Adam."

We can still hear him working so Marina nods, standing and allowing me to leave the skimmer. Dust is still in the same paralyzed state he was in before. Six is still asleep in the chair beside him, though doesn't look to have slept well. I leave the ship and head over to Adam, seeing him having made numerous attempts at making a replacement, but had tossed most away and disassembled some to reuse certain pieces.

"No luck?" I ask.

"No," Adam sighs. "I'm no mechanic. This was never my field of expertise."

I nod, looking over toward the temple, seeing Marina praying again. I glance back at Adam's work again before walking over to Marina and sitting beside her. She smiles but doesn't say anything or open her eyes. I close my eyes as well. At first, I pray for help, for some sign of what we're supposed to do. With nothing else to do but wait, a bit of help from God was probably exactly what we needed. Then, I begin to pray for the others. I pray for our friends in New York, and that they all made it somewhere safe. I pray that they all make it out of the city alive, if they need to leave.

Before I know it, I've been praying for an hour, and the sun has finally risen above the horizon. Marina is still praying as well, and Six is on her way over. I stare up at the temple as she sits down on Marina's other side.

"Find anything useful in there?" Six asks.

"No," I sigh.

"I had hoped for some form of guidance, but it didn't respond," Marina says. "It's still in there, or at least, that's where it's spreading outward from. But it's not responsive anymore."

"I've been sitting out here praying on our situation," Marina says. "I suppose it might sound silly hoping for some kind of sign, but I don't know what else to do with myself."

"It doesn't sound silly at all," Six says seconds before a shrill buzzing fills the air.

I blink in surprise before my face splits into a grin, Marina having the same look and Six wearing a look of confusion. Then, slowly, a grin spreads on her face too.

"Six, aren't you going to answer it?" Marina asks.

Six pulls out the satellite phone, answering and putting it to her ear instantly.

"John?" Six asks.

After a half second, her smile drops, then returns twice the size. It's Sam.

"Sam!" Six exclaims, voice cracking partway through. "You're okay?"

I grin at her and she flips me off, even while continuing to talk.

I hear Sam say something about John and military but Six's smile remains so I assume it's good news.

"Of course he is," Six snorts, rolling her eyes then mouths something that I can only read "John" and "Sarah" from.

Sam begins to say something and Six's smile finally drops.

"Everyone's fine but-"

Sam begins talking fast, too fast for me to make anything out with the earpiece to tight against Six's head.

"There were no buttons," Six says. "We met, I don't know-"

"Lorien itself," Marina says.

"We met an entity," Six says. "It said some cryptic stuff, thanks us for waking it up, then..."

"Spread out into the Earth," Marina says, speaking loudly enough for Sam to hear while she pulls the phone away from Six's head so we can all hear what's going on.

"Oh hi Marina," Sam says, sounded distracted. "Listen, I think this entity of yours might have, uh, spread out into me."

I grin at Six whose eyebrows shoot up.

"What the hell does that mean Sam?" Six asks.

"I have legacies," Sam says sounding exited and proud, to the point that I can imagine him puffing his chest out while holding the phone to his ear. "Well, just Telekinesis. That's always the first one right?"

"You've got Legacies!?" Six more exclaims than asks.

I give her a knowing look and grin and she rolls her eyes.

"Called it," I grin.

Marina smiles as well, shaking her head as Sam continues.

"And I'm not the only one," Sam continues. "We met another girl in New York by chance who had gotten powers too. Who knows how many new Garde are out there."

"We're home Six," Marina says. "We brought Lorien to Earth. We changed the World."

"Well, we still have to win the war," I say.

"Did that entity give you a list of new Garde by chance?" Sam asks. "Some way for us to find them?"

"Nothing so useful," I say. "It seemed like the entity was pretty random in his selection of recipients. Now for the really important stuff, how bad is it?"

"It's bad," Sam says flatly, excitement gone. "Manhattan is, like, on fire. We don't know where Nine is, he's still out there somewhere. Where are you guys? We could really use your help."

"We'd love to help," I say, hands clenched into fists as I imagine my family's home in flames, or destroyed. "Problem is, the only Mogadorian we didn't kill here trashed every ship present. The only way we could get to Manhattan is if we walked. Can the military there send us a jet or a chopper or something?"

"Wait, you're still there?" Sam asks sounding panicked. "At the Sanctuary?"

"Sam, what's wrong?" Six asks.

"You have to get out of there," Sam says. "Setrákus Ra and his big ass warship are headed right for you."

We all fall silent, looking around at each other. I know instantly what Six and Marina have decided. And I don't like it.

"We can't let him have the Sanctuary Sam," Six says.

I have to bite back the first swear for what feels like forever. We're staying. No one is talking both Six and Marina out of this.

"Six that's crazy!" Sam pleads. "You haven't seen the ship! You have to leave! If you don't you'll all die!"

"We'll be fine Sam," Six says putting the phone back to her ear. "Sam? Sam? John? Someone talk to me!"

I can hear John's voice next.

"You too," Six smiles. "Want me to catch you up on the details? Or shall we skip to the part where you try to talk me out of fighting off Setrákus and his warship?"

John said something else and Six blinks in surprise.

"Oh, okay," She says. "Just a sec."

She holds the phone out to Adam and he takes it without question.

"How can I help?" Adam asks, then is silent for a moment before raising an eyebrow. "You're kidding right?"

John says something else and Adam pinches the bridge of his nose.

"John those ships were built before the fall of Lorien," Adam says. "Those shields were meant to sustain attacks from a planet full of Garde. No weapon on Earth short of a nuclear bomb could even potentially break through their shields. And attempting such and attack over a major population center would be catastrophic."

He glances at a skimmer and his eyes widen.

"Although," he walks away, toward the ship, the rest of us following. "Maybe brute force isn't the answer. I'm staring at an airstrip filled with disabled skimmers. It occurs to me that there are a hundred or so assigned to each warship. They act as scouts and transport squads of ground troops. They come and go from the warship quite a bit. Which makes lowering the force field every time impractical. So, the skimmers are equipped with an electromagnetic field generator that masks them from the warship's shields, allowing them to pass through unharmed."

John says something and Adam thinks for a moment.

"It is possible yes," Adam says. "But, while they wouldn't have to worry about the shields, they would still be targeted by the cannons."

John is silent for a moment before saying something else. Excitement appears on Adam's face.

"Twelve, plus two pilots," Adam says. "You're considering a less obvious kind of assault aren't you?"

John says something else and Adam grins.

"That depends on how many of those fighters have Legacies," Adam says. "John, have I ever mentioned to you that when I was young I always dreamed of piloting one of those warships?"

John says something else and Adam says goodbye then hands the phone back to Six, who holds it out so we can all hear again.

"You think we should try boarding the Anubis?" Six asks and I cross my fingers that he says to run. "Sam was just encouraging us to run as fast and as far from that thing as possible."

"I'm not sure what I want you to do for now Six," John says. "I just want to know our options."

He pauses and my head falls forward. Here it comes.

"Stay put Six," John says. "Help is on the way."

"Alright," Six grins. "We'll get this place ready for Setrákus Ra."

And with that, she hangs up, tucking the phone away into her pocket again and grinning.

"Well, looks like those weapons will come in handy after all," Six grins.

"We shouldn't be staying," I say, knowing it will change nothing.

As proof, Six walks away.

"It'll be alright," Marina says. "John said he was sending help. It'll probably be new Garde to help us fight."

I sigh, hoping she was right, but somehow knowing she wasn't. Either way, the decision had been made. I turn and follow Six, deciding to help set up the defenses.

* * *

Read and review.


	30. Chapter 30

I do not own Lorien Legacies or any of the characters.

* * *

Defenses

We stand in a line at the edge of the grass in front of the Sanctuary. Four people, one of them a normal human, against a warship with a hundred or so skimmers, thousands of Mogadorians, and Setrákus Ra himself. Boy. And I thought going into the desert when every human I met could be a terrorist trying to kill me was stupid. But, that's the Marine Corps for you. Quickly coming to look like my entire life now.

"This is a horrible idea," Adam speaks up finally, breaking the silence.

"Setrákus Ra cannot be allowed into the Sanctuary," Marina says flatly.

"You heard her," Six shrugs.

"We've already accomplished what we came here to do," Adam argues. "Humans have legacies now. There's nothing Setrákus can do to change that."

"We don't know that," Marina says.

"He controlled your home world for more than a decade and he's never been able to take away your legacies!" Adam argues.

"Because the Entity was hidden here," Marina says. "If he were to get the Entity itself, who knows what would happen."

"As much as I want to say we shouldn't be doing this, she's right," I sigh. "The last thing we need is for all Legacies to vanish and for Setrákus Ra to make himself a would-be god with the Entity's power."

Six and Marina both nod in agreement and Adam sighs.

"Alright," Adam sighs. "Then, if we're going to do this, we'll have to deal with the smaller elephant in the room. How do we kill Setrákus Ra without hurting Ella."

"We'll figure something out," Six says. "No one is going to kill Ella."

"I will," I mumble.

All eyes turn to me, two of the sets less than pleased.

"If it comes to it, if there's no other way, I'll pull the trigger first," I say. "But you have to be ready to pull it again as soon as the charm is out of the way."

"You're not killing Ella!" Six snaps. "How can you even consider-"

"Six," Marina says, stopping her. "James is right. There may not be a way to break the charm. If there's not, we have to be ready to pull the trigger."

"I can't believe you, of all people are condoning this!" Six snapped.

"I'm not," Marina says. "I'm completely against hurting Ella, and completely for breaking the charm. But we're about to fight the biggest warship of all and the one person who nearly killed all of us at once, and that was with Eight, Nine, and John with us. We have to face facts. There won't always be an easy way or a happy ending."

"Finally someone's talking sense," Adam sighed. "But why are you so willing to do it?"

"Because someone has to," I say. "And if someone has to, it might as well be me."

Adam stares at me a moment longer before turning his eyes back to the north, where the Anubis will be coming from. Marina slips her hand into mine, squeezing it, then also turns to the north again.

"So, defenses?" I ask.

"Well, we still have all of the guns and bombs," Six sighs, turning north as well. "Skimmers too."

"How good an explosion could those make Adam?" I ask.

"Fair sized," Adam says. "Planning to make them bombs?"

"Might as well," I nod. "We can wire twelve of the sixteen, line them up in front of the entrance, then when the Mogadorians that we all know Setrákus Ra is going to bring show up, we can blast them. Probably won't get them all, but we can get most."

Six and Marina nod and we leave, Adam heading to where all of our weapons are laid out, and the rest of us heading toward Phiri Dun-Ra, after I grab an empty burlap sack. I put it over Phiri's head, despite her struggling, then nod to Six, who quickly knocks Phiri Dun-Ra unconscious. I untie her from the Skimmer then tie the cables we were restraining her with around her arms and legs, binding her in place. Six walks her into the jungle so that she's out of sight, and then returns, helping Marina move the skimmers into place. I'd have helped but I don't have telekinesis. Instead, I go to help Adam with the C4. It's not exceptionally difficult, and a few of my friends in the corps had been explosives experts who had taught me the basics, like how to rig C4 bombs.

After a few minutes, the skimmers are rigged to explode and are lined up on almost the exact line that the temple's force field had been on before. With the C4 came a remote detonator. Twenty switches lined up with a corresponding red and green bulb for each, twelve of which had a red light currently lit. each switch had to be moved up one notch to arm the explosive, then had a metal pin that had to be guided around the switch to move it to it's firing position and make the bombs explode. I show it to Marina who nods then looks to Six.

"What's the full plan here?" Marina asks.

I look to Six and she nods.

"Whatever Setrákus wants here, he can't take it anywhere, without a ship," Six says. "So, while he's in the sanctuary, we'll be rescuing Ella and stealing the Anubis. We, being me and Adam. You and James will be running the defenses."

"Are you sure about this?" Marina asks.

"Why not?" I ask. "If all the troops are down here when they go in, they'll be fine. And after we wipe out the first wave with the skimmers, they'll be expecting a full scale attack, so they'll leave the ship to defend their Beloved Leader."

Marina thinks about it a minute then nods. Next, Six and Marina move the last two ships into place. They're on the edge of the jungle on opposite sides of the Sanctuary. The plan is to have Marina's telekinesis work the controls to fire the skimmer's cannons and create a crossfire. Marina walks to where she and I will be running the defenses from and tries to fire the cannon, but struggles.

"I don't know Six," Marina sighs finally. "It's hard to use my Telekinesis on something I can't see."

"Try propping the blasters up throughout the trees," I say. "She'll be able to pull the triggers easily enough."

Six and Adam nod and the three of us prop the Mogadorian blasters up throughout the edge of the jungle, camouflaging them with branches and grass to hide them from Mogadorian soldiers, but leaving them exposed enough for Marina to see them. She tests each, finding she was able to fire them all easily enough. Then, we meet back up near the skimmers.

"You don't even have to hit anyone Marina," Six reminds her. "Just make them think the attack is coming from all sides."

"Alright," Marina nods.

"What happens if Setrákus Ra is with the firs wave?" I ask and Adam nods, as though he's been thinking the same thing.

"We need to find a way to slow him down," Six says.

I look at the temple then at the others. We walk to the temple, staring at it, all trying to think.

"I suggest we dig a hole," Adam speaks up.

"What, a pitfall trap?" I ask then grin. "That'd be something to see."

"He's exactly the kind of asshole that doesn't watch where he's walking," Six shrugs. "Especially if he's sporting a huge boner to get into the temple."

"There's an image," Adam snorts.

"Yeah, one I could do without," I laugh, digging into the ground with my shoe.

Unlike the runway which is hard packed from the sun and from use, this dirt is damp and loose, though, being a desert, there will be a lot of roots.

"It'll be funny to see him fall in," Six decides.

"One of you should probably cave in the entrance too," I suggest, glancing at Marina who nods.

"I'll do it," Six says calling up a storm.

After less than a minute, a bolt of lightning shoots out of the sky, striking inside the stairway and collapsing it with a deafening crash. As the storm dissipates, Six walks over to inspect her handiwork. While she does, Marina begins to walk, counting her steps, then turns and does the same at a ninety degree angle before stopping and looking to the rest of us.

"Thirty feet per side should do it, right?" Marina asks.

"I'd say so," Six nods.

Marina walks one of the sides then stops, ice forming along her path. She turns, walking back along it, the ice thickening and forming an edge on bottom before she turns, making the rest of the sides. She continues her box until it's several meters tall with no top or bottom and the bottom edge lethally sharp. She has to constantly exert her power to keep the ice from melting, but doesn't seem too troubled.

"Now, we lift it up," she says, indicating herself and Six. "Then slam it back down as hard as we can."

Six nods and the two of them lift it into the air then slam it down, hard. Unfortunately, I was right about roots. The ice only gets about four feet before stopping, cracks running along it. Marina instantly races around the outside, repairing the damage before kneeling at one of the corners, her hands on the ice. After a few minutes, she steps back.

"Alright, quick, let's lift it back up," Marina says.

"You want it out of the ground now?" Six asks confused.

"Oh, it's a big scoop," I say. "Smart thinking. Lift it up Six. You'll understand."

Six shrugs, lifting the ice again, realizing what had happened as the ground inside the ice tore free from the rest of the ground. Marina had spread her ice under the dirt, scooping out everything inside the ice square to put back on top of the pit.

"James is right," Adam nods. "That is smart. This way we don't have to find really long branches to cover the pit with. But you should still be able to collapse it with telekinesis."

"That's my thinking," Marina nods. "Now, we just have to dig the rest of the pit."

"Right," I nod, walking away.

"Where are you going?" Six asks.

"To get a shovel!" I call back.

I find two with the random stuff the Mogadorians left us and return, stepping up next tot he depression left by Marina's scoop.

"Adam, would you like to kick things off?" I ask.

Adam nods and kneels down, placing his hands on the ground. The ground begins to shake, the soil inside the pit breaking apart and loosening. Then, Adam stands and I hand him a shovel before we all drop into the pit.

"Well, here goes," I sigh.

I drive my shovel down into the ground and make it an inch before it gets stopped by the first rock. I move it to the side and make it two before roots block its path.

"Oh yeah," I sigh. "This is going to suck."

I look over at the others. Adam shares a knowing look with me but Marina and Six are lifting out massive loads of soil with their telekinesis.

"Lucky," I grumble, stomping on my shovel before pulling it up, tearing the roots which successfully brush all the dirt off my shovel.

I sigh, crack my neck, groan, then set back in to work.

* * *

Read and review.


	31. Chapter 31

I do not own Lorien Legacies or any of the characters.

* * *

Backup

I stare at the ship as it approaches. It doesn't look quite like any Mogadorian ship I had seen, but I'm just a human. What do I know?

"That's not one of ours," Adam says.

"No," Six agrees, resting a hand on Marina's shoulder to calm her. "It's okay. Don't you recognize it? It's one of ours. Like the one that brought us here."

I stare at her then back at the ship. That's a Loric ship? Is that the backup John had mentioned? Had he somehow found more Loric? Hopefully they were Garde. As the ship lands I shoulder my rifle, not trusting the ship to not be filled with Mogadorians. The others seem to agree because they're all tense. A ramp unfurls from the side, reaching to the ground as a door opens above it. Then, a familiar beagle charges down the ramp, running to Six and propping his front pas on her thigh a moment before rushing to greet Marina, then Adam, then me, his tail a blur the entire time.

"Hello again BK," I grin, lowering my rifle and reaching down to scratch Bernie Kosar's head.

I look back up at the ramp to see Sarah standing at the top, arms spread wide and a grin on her tired face. Lines ran under her eyes and her eyes were a little bloodshot. Of course they were. The invasion would be on every channel, and Sarah had known where John was. She must have been worried sick.

"Look what we found!" Sarah said, still grinning before heading down the ramp where Marina met her with a hug, followed by Six.

"Who's we?" I ask just as a boy about Sarah's age steps into view at the top of the ramp.

He has messy dark hair and tired squinty eyes, as though he didn't see the sun often. His eyes find Adam and widen.

"Whoa," he speaks up. "You've got one of them standing behind you."

"That's Adam," Sarah says. "I thought I told you about him."

"Oh, I guess you did," the boy nods. "It's just, uh, spooky, seeing one of them walking around like normal. Sorry bro."

"It's alright," Adam says, then indicates Phiri Dun-Ra, who we had brought back out of the jungle after finishing with the skimmers and blasters. "As you can see, I'm not the only Mogadorian here, but I am the friendliest."

"Noted," the boy nods, walking down the ramp.

As he approaches, I extend my hand.

"James," I greet.

"Mark," he says, shaking my hand. "Mark James."

I smirk, shaking my head. What are the chances? Six and Marina head into the ship and Mark and I walk back to the pit with Adam.

"What's this?" Mark asks.

"We're preparing for Setrákus Ra," I say. "The skimmers, uh, ships, over there, are rigged with C4. We'll blow them when the Mogadorians are close enough. Then We use the blasters hidden in the trees to slaughter the rest while making them think the attack is coming from all around them. Then, when Setrákus Ra tries to stroll into the Sanctuary, he'll fall into our pit."

I drop into the pit, picking up my shovel and continuing to dig.

"A pit?" Mark scoffs. "You're going to kill Setrákus Ra, with a pit?"

"Not kill," I say. "We can't kill him unless we kill Ella first. We're only slowing him down while we rescue Ella and steal the Anubis."

"So, your big plan is to drop the giant alien in a pit, then steal his ship?" Mark asks just as Six and Marina return.

"Pretty much, yes," Six nods. "We don't know what he wants with the Sanctuary exactly, but he can't take the power inside anywhere without his ship."

Mark groaned.

"I get that this was a great plan before, when you were, like, stranded, but we can leave now," Mark says.

I sigh, resting my forearms on the handle of my shovel.

"You're right," I agree. "We could leave. And then Setrákus Ra would have an endless supply of Loric Energy at his disposal, god-like power, and he would probably strip all of the Garde of their powers. Would you prefer that?"

Mark stared at me before sighing.

"Thought not," I said, beginning to dig again. "Whatever Setrákus Ra wants, he can't have it. We have to stop him here. And if all else fails, we can have the ship waiting on standby in case we do end up needing to get away fast."

"I agree with James," Six says. "It's both what's right and what's smart at the same time."

"Alright," Mark sighs. "Fine. I understand."

"Now for the real question," I speak up, grinning up at them. "Why is the only one digging our most important trap the one with no powers?"

"Silence slave," Marina laughed, miming cracking a whip. "Faster slave."

"Yes Mistress," I say, digging as fast as I could, most of the dirt falling back in the pit anyway.

Everyone laughs then Adam, Six, and Marina drop back into the pit to help while Mark, Sarah, and the pilot, who I assume is Loric, go to get shovels. Adam loosens the soil again and we continue to dig, Six and Marina hurling massive chunks of ground away from the pit one after the other, the rest of us pulling up shovelfuls then piling them in the middle where Six and Marina would lift it out of the pit once it was big enough and we'd continue.

We talk as we work, telling each other what we've missed, all of us being very careful to say as little as possible about Eight's death, and me being completely silent while the others talked about his temporary resurrection. Oddly enough, despite everything Sarah had done for the Garde, she hadn't gotten any Legacies, at least, not yet. Mark James hadn't either, but no one really seemed surprised by that. Sarah was overjoyed for Sam, but it clearly hurt her a little that she didn't have Legacies. Finally, Six asked the important question.

"Is John on his way?" Six asks. "He said he was bringing the military."

"I don't think that's going to happen," Sarah sighs. "The government isn't exactly cooperating. like, they want to fight, but they don't want to lose."

"What the hell does that mean?" Six asks.

"They're being little bitches," Mark grumbles.

"They're considering cooperating with Setrákus Ra instead in order to save as many as possible if we can't show them we can win, aren't they?" I ask.

"Yes," Sarah nods.

"Figures," Six grumbles, continuing to dig. "The military never was good for anything."

I laugh once, resting my arms on my shovel again as I look over at her. "Ouch."

"Present company excluded," Six corrects herself rolling her eyes.

"Only present company?" I ask, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah why?" Six asks before realizing who I was referring too.

"Hawkeye's going to be disappointed," I shrug, continuing to dig.

"Oh, he's definitely useless," Six laughs. "Rookie's alright though."

I laugh again and Marina joins me.

"Hopefully Hawkeye will find some beach to relax on soon," Marina smiles.

"Maybe he and that other human Garde Sam mentioned will take a liking to each other," Six grins. "Get him off my back."

I can't help but laugh.

"Oh now I feel bad for her," I laugh. "No one deserves that fate."

"Isn't it a little rude to make fun of friends who aren't here?" Mark asks.

"If you met Hawkeye, you'd be making fun too," I promise. "He's a good guy. He just hits on anything that moves."

"Not Marina," Six grins and I shoot her a knowing look.

"He didn't want a teleporter pissed at him," I lie. "Pissing Eight off would be a very easy way to make your life hell."

The mood drops a little, pretty much everyone catching my lie, but they let it slide. We dig in silence for a while.

"So, is John coming?" Marina asks.

"Oh, I never finished about that," Sarah says. "More bad news. Five has taken Nine hostage in New York."

I hear the crackle of frost from Marina's direction.

"What?" she hisses.

"John and the others are trying to track him down and stop, whatever that psycho has planned," Sarah says.

"I should have killed him," Marina mutters.

"No, you did the right thing," I say.

"Once they have that settled, he'll be on his way," Sarah continues after a moment. "But..."

"He won't make it in time," Six says. "It'll just be us."

Sarah nods.

"They might show up in the knick of time, just like every stereotypical action movie," I say, not really believing it in any way, mostly saying it for Sarah. "With John and Sam hanging out of either side of a helicopter and fighter jets flying in behind them, bombing the Mogadorians, but not Setrákus Ra, into oblivion."

"Maybe," Six snorts. "Bet they even do us a favor and throw Setrákus into this pit or us with their missiles."

I grin, imagining that scene playing out in a movie. Right up until the scene turned into a blood bath because Setrákus grew into King Kong's ugly bald step brother. We dig in silence from then on. Finally, after several hours, we finish. The pit is deep, easily seventy feet, mostly on my suggestion we make the depth excessive in case Setrákus can expand more than we know. Once it's dug, Six and Marina carefully levitate us all out one at a time with their Telekinesis. Then, they very carefully move the dirt square they had cut out back into place, setting it on the lip inside we had left so it wouldn't drop to the bottom. Once that's done, Adam carefully moves Dust onto the Loric pilot, Lexa's ship. I follow with the cloaking devices Adam had taken from the skimmers. They look like solid black boxes the size of the average lap top, and have some exposed wires hanging out of the backs. Once on the ship, Lexa gets to work attaching one and the rest of us head back outside. I get Sarah and Mark each blasters, then we all sit down and get ready for the Mogadorians to arrive.

* * *

Read and review.


	32. Chapter 32

I do not own Lorien Legacies or any of the characters.

* * *

Plan B

I chew my sandwich slowly. I'm actually not very hungry. The thought of what's about to happen keeps that from affecting me. Six is a little ways away, staring at the ship and Lexa is walking over to her. The rest of us are eating and passing around water bottles in silence. Something begins to nag at me, like a little voice trying to tell me something, maybe I had forgotten something. It felt important. I closed my eyes, trying to focus on the voice as I heard the ship power on.

 _Six! Marina! Adam! James! ANYBODY!_

I was on my feet in an instant, eyes snapping open, seeing Marina about to walk over to Six.

"Ella!" I gasp.

Marina's eyes widen and Six turns toward me, also wide-eyed.

 _Finally!_ Ella shouts, sounding angry and desperate.

"Where are you?" I ask looking around. "Unless you're in the tree line, you've really stepped up your range."

 _What the hell are you all doing there!?_ Ella shrieks. _I told John to warn you!_

"He did warn us," Six says walking over. "We're here to help stop-"

 _NO! No no no! You have to run!_ Ella screams in our heads. _RUN OR YOU DIE! ! !_

Ella goes silent. We all stare at each other. Everyone else who was not included in the conversation, or at least to Ella's side of it, stared at us, confused.

"How far out?" I ask.

 _Seven minutes,_ Ella says. _So you all have to get going! Now!_

"No," I say. "We're not running Ella. What's he sending?"

We're all running toward our spot in the trees now, where we're going to be hidden, and where me and Marina, and now Sarah and Mark, will be fighting from. Adam branches off, running to where he had been working on a replacement conduit, where he'd left his sword. He also grabs mine from our skimmer and passes it to me when he gets to us.

"Almost forgot these," Adam says.

"Isn't there an expression about bringing knives to a gunfight?" Six asks.

"You never know when big pointy objects will come in handy," Adam says.

"Ella, headcount," I say.

 _A hundred troops,_ Ella says. _He's going to be at the front. And so will I._

"You told John sunset," Six says.

 _He never stopped to pick up troops,_ Ella says. _He's too...excited to get here._

"Good," I grin. "Less for us to fight and he'll definitely not be watching his step."

 _You won't be able to save me and take the Anubis,_ Ella says. _You need to leave. You can't break the charm. You have to kill me._

"No," I growl. "You guys' charm only protected you until you got together, right?"

"Yeah," Marina nods. "Why?"

"What if there's a reason he's been taking her everywhere?" I ask.

The others all catch on and nod.

"Worth a shot," Marina nods.

"What do you say Adam?" Six asks. "Should we go for Ella, or stick to the plan and steal the Anubis?"

"Your call," Adam says.

"If we see an opening we'll go for Ella," Six decides. "Maybe we can separate them when we spring our traps somehow. Otherwise, we'll stick to the plan."

"You'll probably have to get right under his nose to get Ella," Sarah says. "So he could turn off your invisibility."

"I'll do it," I say. "Nothing to turn off means that I have an advantage of knowing my exact limits. Plus, while I'm drawing his attention up close, it'll leave you guys the chance to get the Anubis anyway once I get away."

Six stares at me then nods.

"No," Marina says, voice thick with worry. "You can't fight Setrákus Ra alone."

"Yes he can," Six says. "He's not in many hand-to-hand fights, but when he is, he's lethal. He was even able to give Nine a hard time."

"Yeah, I was there for that fight," Marina growls. "I had to heal him when Nine kept destroying parts of his body and beating him with one hit every time."

"This will be different," I say. "Right Ella?"

Ella's silent for several moments.

 _James is capable of fighting Setrákus Ra,_ Ella says finally.

"And living?" Marina asks.

No response, though I can feel that she's still there.

"Shit!" Adam swears. "We forgot someone."

We all look and see Phiri Dun-Ra inch-worming her way across the landing strip.

"Can you get her with your Telekinesis from here?" I ask, finger itching toward the trigger.

"I think so," Marina says as Mark raises his blaster.

"I think I can make the shot," Mark offers.

I rest my firing hand on his blaster to make sure I don't try, pushing his blaster down.

"We're not executioners," I say, though I leave out that three of the four of us want her dead.

Marina and Six pull Phiri Dun-Ra to us with their Telekinesis. Then, they shove her into the hollowed out log we're all hiding behind. For the moment she's stuck, though she can probably worm her way out. However, she's noisy. She keeps screaming into her gag.

"That's going to be annoying," I grumble. "Pull her out a second."

Six complies and I slam the butt of my rifle into the side of her head. She drops and Six shoves her back into the log.

"Much better," I smile, setting my rifle on the log so that I don't have to support it with my other arm.

Suddenly, everything goes silent. No wind, no birds, even the bugs have gone silent. Instantly, we all grab onto some part of Six's arms and she turns us all invisible. Less than a second later, the Anubis glides into view. It's shaped like a scarab, its entire hull being overlapping metal plates, giving it a scaled appearance. There are God knows how many cannons on all sides of the hull, but the single ridiculously excessively massive one on the front is most prominent.

"Oh my God," Sarah breathes.

"Holy shit!" Mark says louder.

"You've got to be kidding me," I breathe as the entire sanctuary, the landing strip, and the jungle around us fall into the ship's shadow. "I think we may have miscalculated the size of the ship."

"Just a little," Six whispers.

"What are they waiting for?" Sarah asks.

"Ella?" Six whispers. "What's he doing? Are you there?"

For a moment, there's nothing but silence. Then, a whisper.

 _You should have run._

A hum suddenly sounds from the ship. The ship itself is silent, so the hum is noticeable despite being so quiet I could whisper over it. My eyes search the underbelly of the ship, then the sides. Nothing. The hum is getting louder. My teeth are starting to vibrate. Then, I see it. A light. In the main cannon. Barely noticeable but getting brighter slowly.

"What is that?" Six asks.

"It's powering up," Adam breathes, sounding to be somewhere between awe and terror.

"What is?" Six asks.

"The cannon," Adam and I both say.

The hollow of the cannon is glowing now, and quickly becoming blinding.

"This is bad," Adam says, terror now dripping from his words. "Really bad. We need to leave. Now."

"How powerful is that thing?" Six asks.

"Back!" I snarl, gripping Marina around the waist with my free arm as we all back away, as quickly as we can without letting go.

The hum is earsplitting now, the light from the cannon blinding.

"We said we wouldn't run!" Marina shouts over the hum.

The cannon discharges, a blast of energy the size of thousands of lightning bolts streaking from the cannon into the temple, carving through it like a raindrop through fog. The walls of the temple glow red hot around the blast. I yank backward, toppling everyone less than a second before there's a blinding white flash and the explosion's concussion blasts into us. We barely manage to keep from getting thrown. Then, Adam and I yank everyone up and we're suddenly sprinting through the trees. Chunks of temple come raining down around us. I swear, realizing that we were so, very much too close to the temple. The blast wasn't too bad for us, but the debris was big enough that it would crush us. Probably. Most of the big debris miraculously misses us. However, Marina suddenly sprints back toward the temple. Mark grabs her almost instantly, reflexes that I'm actually jealous of kicking in, and tackles her to the ground. She shoves him, an icy hand print on his chest. Just as Marina's on her feet again, there's an explosion. One of the skimmers. The bomb must have been triggered by a direct hit. Debris shoots past us. In that moment, I'm pretty sure my heart stopped. The first chunk of debris to get as far as me scratches my cheek, narrowly missing splitting my head in two. The second is even worse. It shoots between my legs in a grey streak. I hear Mark suck in a breath and look. A piece of glass has impaled him through the chest dead center of the frozen handprint Marina had left. I suck in a breath of my own, looking up. Two baseball sized chunks of debris are falling. I quickly glance where they should land. Six.

I take off at a sprint. She stops the first with her telekinesis. I jump, shoving debris misses her head by a millimeter, then slams into my right shoulder. I make a full revolution before I even begin to fall, two by the time I hit the ground. The debris is on the ground and coated in blood. My shoulder is screaming in pain. Thankfully, my arm is attached. The debris just punched through my shoulder blade and brachial artery. That's good. I'd hate to only have a left arm for the rest of my life. I turn my head, seeing Marina sprinting over, finished with Mark. Six sits up, holding her head where she seems to have split it open on a rock. Better than the injury she would have had.

Pain flares through my body but I don't make a sound. I'm too used to it by now. After a moment, Marina finishes with my shoulder and turns, healing Six's head.

"We survived," I say sitting up, shaking my head to clear the clouds caused by blood loss. "Good."

"Your pants are ripped," Mark says.

I look down and pale. The seam running front to back on my pants is ripped open. I swallow hard then sigh. That was much closer than I thought, and much closer than I like.

"You lucky son of a bitch," Six grins. "Less than a millimeter away."

I nod and stand, picking up my rifle, amazed it's not damaged, same for my sword.

"You okay?" I ask Mark.

"I'm good," Mark nods. "Thanks to her. Really don't want to make a habit of it though."

Six, Marina, and I have to cover our mouths to keep from laughing.

"What?" Mark asks.

"I made that habit a long time ago," I laugh. "Wish I could break it."

"So do I," Marina agrees. "I hate washing your blood off my hands."

"Then don't wash it off," I shrug, sighting in on the crater left by the ship through my scope.

"I don't like it being there at all," Marina growls, kneeling beside me. "What's going on?"

"Well," I say. "There's good news and bad news. Which you want first?"

"Good," Marina says.

"The well is fine," I say. "The only thing destroyed was the ruin."

"Now the bad," Six says kneeling beside her.

"Our bombs and pitfall are gone," I say. "The blasters should be good still, but the skimmers are scattered and the pit is completely gone. There's just a crater now."

"They're coming down," Adam hisses.

"Why would they blow the temple away?" Sarah asks. "Do you think they were trying to blow up the well?"

"Maybe," Six says.

"What if he needed the temple out of the way to get at the well?" Sarah asks suddenly.

I lower my rifle then raise it again, looking at the ship.

"What?" Marina asks.

"There's a gigantic door directly over the well," I say. "I think Sarah's right. We have to stop Setrákus now."

Two wide metal gangways have extended from the sides of the Anubis, sliding doors open at the tops. Ranks of Mogadorian troops are exiting them, quickly securing the area. I actually recognize the maneuver and can't help but wonder if the Mogadorians ever taught their basic tactics to the US military.

"We have to attack now," Mark says.

"Any guns still up?" Six asks.

Marina closes her eyes, concentrating while I scan the trees.

"Some," Marina nods.

"I count twenty," I say. "Out of fifty that's not bad."

Marina nods in agreement as Six slides closer to Adam.

"There they are," Adam hisses. "Both of them."

I sight in again. Sure enough, Setrákus Ra is striding down one of the gangways. Beside him is Ella. Though, she looks pale, and thin. No. Not thin. She doesn't look sickly at all, actually. She looks Mogadorian. I look at Setrákus in is obsidian allow armor with spiked shoulders, pointed fingers, and a fur-lined leather cape. Every bit the vain dictator. And loving every second of it. He stops halfway, looking around for us.

"I know you're here!" He shouts. "I'm glad! I want you to see what happens next! Lower it!"

The door I had noticed earlier slides open and something begins to lower from it like a giant collapsible telescope. The thing is a huge pipe with scaffolding built around it and supports to hold it up. There are glyphs on the sides that are glowing slightly. Loralite. There are complicated circuits and gages along the pipe and it definitely looks like it has to go.

"Oh, that thing is so getting blasted," I growl.

"Yup," Marina nods.

"It's gone," Six agrees.

"I don't like this at all," Adam growls.

"Alright, so we destroy his toy, rescue Ella, then either take the Anubis or hightail it back to Lexa," Six says.

"You make it sound easy," I snort.

And Setrákus goes right on talking.

"For centuries now, I've worked to harness the power of Lorien, to utilize it in ways more efficient than nature intended. Now, finally..."

I look to the others an exaggerated bored look on my face. "Mark, would you mind?"

Mark grins, everyone laying flat. Then, Mark flips the switches. The explosions are deafening and so hot we can feel the heat instantly. Watching over the log, I see about thirty Mogadorians engulfed in the flames of the explosions. The shrapnel and debris takes out even more. The remaining Mogadorians panic, firing at the destroyed ships since they don't actually know what's going on. Friendly Fire catches a few Mogadorians. Then, Six and Marina are firing the blasters spread around the landing strip. Mogadorians explode into ash rapidly. Suddenly a wheel strut crashes down on the gangway immediately in front of Ella and Setrákus Ra after altering its own course a half second before crushing them both. Good. He doesn't actually want to see her hurt either.

Setrákus looks somewhere between furious and shocked that we interrupted his speech with a counter attack. He begins dragging Ella down the rest of the ramp.

"Find them!" Setrákus shouts. "Kill them!"

He starts down the incline toward the well and Six and Adam take off into the jungle, invisible, while Marina keeps up the blaster fire. Suddenly, Adam dives into view, turning visible as he does and blasts a Mogadorian that had had the dumb luck to be firing in his and Six's direction.

"There!" another Mogadorian shouts, but is dropped by one of my bullets before anyone can see which way he was pointing.

Not that it matters, it buys Adam maybe another ten seconds before they realize he's the only one with both hair and non-armor clothing. Bernie Kosar charges to help Adam instantly, flying over a group of Mogadorians first as a toucan, then as a lion dropping in the middle of them, tearing them apart. He's more ferocious, more angry, than I expect, but I remember that he was nearly killed in Chicago. Any time a Mogadorian draws a bead on Bernie Kosar, he shifts into a smaller form, either a bird or a bug, making himself an impossible target, then shifts back when he's in a better position to kill. It's so fluid and smooth it's like art. Of course, he's not the only one who's gotten good at killing Mogadorians. I start to snipe from my position, Mark and Sarah doing the same from the ends of the excessively long log we're behind. Mogadorians begin to burst into cloud of ash all around the battlefield. Marina moves to charge into the battle but I rest a hand on her shoulder, stopping her.

"Not yet," I whisper.

A group off to the left starts to regroup so Sarah, Mark, and I rain fire on them until they start running around like headless chickens. I drop my empty magazine and put in a new one and nod to Marina. She charges out of the trees, sprinting to Adam's side, the three of us keeping her path clear. She makes it to Adam and they take off running at another group of Mogadorians that's starting to reform. A lot turn and flee from them but a lot square up to shoot. I drop the one keeping them under control and Adam begins to send out seismic shocks with every step. the Mogadorians go toppling into each other, their fire going everywhere but straight. A particularly strong shockwave rips the ground apart, a half dozen Mogadorians falling into the crevasse. I grin. Adam got his pitfall after all. I crouch down, crawling over to Sarah.

"I'm moving!" I shout over the gunfire.

Marina's stopped the blaster fire from around the landing strip now, so I need to get ready to go grab Ella. Six is ready to get the Anubis, even if she has to do it alone, which leaves me to get Ella while Adam and Marina keep the ground troops from pinning Sarah and Mark down. Sarah nods and I start sprinting through the trees. After a ways, I skid to a stop and look out into the landing strip. Then, I'm sprinting out of the trees, rifle slung, sword drawn. Marina's not focussing on the ground troops. Not at all. She's freezing her way straight to the crater.

"So much for the plan," I growl as I reach the Mogadorians.

I slash two, my sword cutting through their armor with only a little difficulty. I instinctively duck as blaster fire sails over me in both directions; one from a pair of Mogadorians, and the other to kill those same Mogadorians. I stand, slashing through a group that had wandered into my way as they looked around to figure out where to shoot. I leap over a falling body as a Mogadorian aims at me from in front of me.

"Oh for the love of-" I begin but I'm cut off by a blaster shot.

One from either Sarah or Mark hits the Mogadorian in the head and his hand clenches as he falls, sending a blaster bolt at me, grazing my shoulder. I hiss in pain, landing in a roll and putting my sword away, grabbing his blaster.

"Enough of that," I growl.

I spin, holding the trigger down. Round and round I go, blaster spray dropping Mogadorians all around me, not all of the hits fatal. I stop, taking a second to steady myself before charging at the crater, spraying any Mogadorian even notionally between me and the crater. The blaster stops firing and I drop it, pulling my rifle around and begin to do the same. The mag goes dry and I drop it, grabbing another and slamming it in, sending the bolt home then ducking under a dagger swipe. I press the barrel to the Mogadorian's head, firing and catching the dagger then spinning, hurling it into another Mogadorian's head. A blaster shot flashes past, barely missing me, and I hear a sizzling sound. I look down and shout in surprise, grabbing the two magazines that were grazed and now glowing red hot. I hurl them away and dive for cover behind a pair of living Mogadorians. There's a deafening boom and suddenly I'm covered in dust and my other shoulder feels like its on fire. I look down to see a second graze, this time from one of my own bullets. I shake my head, sprinting toward the crater again, firing at a line of Mogadorians at the top. My gun runs dry just before I can kill the last one but I'm too close to get my sword out. I sprint forward, smashing the butt of my gun into the bottom of his blaster's barrel, knocking the gun upward just as he fires. Then, I drop to one knee, bringing the butt of my rifle straight down onto his knee cap, shattering it. As he's falling, I grab the dagger from his belt and slit his throat then drop the dagger, slinging my rifle yet again and drawing my sword.

Just as I get there, there's a sudden scream of high-pressured air and Loric energy begins to explode out of the ground into the massive pipe. Pain shoots through my head. I groan, staggering back a step, ash coating my back. I glance at Marina but she seems fine. So does Adam. Great, maybe I do have a legacy. I get to feel the Entity's pain as Setrákus sucks it up. I grab a blaster and fire up at the pipe but a force field deflects it. I drop the blaster just as spikes balls of ice began to crash into the force field. Marina. She's not after Setrákus. She's after the machine. She charges at the machine, obviously deciding to take it apart by hand, but Setrákus moves faster than I can track, grabbing her by the throat and lifting her into the air. She scratches at his fingers. She's suffocating. Like hell that's happening.

 _Sorry Ella, I hope you don't mind having one hand, cause that mother fucker's is coming off!_

I sprint forward, growling in rage as Marina's struggles begin to slow and weaken. I'm not going to make it. Suddenly, a wave of rocks and dirt crashes into the backs of Setrákus Ra's legs, dropping him to his hands and knees, allowing Marina to get free. I glance at Ella, seeing her on her hands and knees as though her legs had been hit. So it's true then. Anything we do to him, happens to her.

Setrákus Ra's legs are trapped under the rockslide now, and Adam is sliding down the side of the crater on one side. Judging by the cloud of ash at the top of the opposite side, Six is coming in from there to help Marina as well. Who needs plans anyway.

I stop beside Marina, grabbing her and backing away from Setrákus quickly. Suddenly, Six is visible beside Ella, and I doubt it's by choice. I deposit Marina a safe distance away and then start forward again.

"Don't let any Mogadorians down here," I growl. "Six! Get her out of here!"

Six is shaking Ella by the shoulders but Ella is unresponsive, staring at the Loric Energy flowing out of the earth and into the ship. Still my head feels as though it's splitting apart, and still that deafening scream is echoing from the energy, but I have to deal with Setrákus to deal with the machine. So I have to delay until Ella is away.

I look up at the dials. I wonder if changing those would stop the machine. Worth a shot, I suppose. Though, if the ship were to explode right now, I'm almost afraid to see what would happen with so much raw Loric Energy inside it. I step up beside Setrákus, laying the edge of my blade on the back of his head.

"What, you going to execute me?" Setrákus laughs. "Really James? Do you think your dear sweet Marina would appreciate that?"

I'm taken aback. I actually didn't expect him to know who I was. Or care what i thought about specific Garde members. Setrákus stands, gripping the blade with his hand and squeezing, a gash forming on Ella's hand making her gasp in pain, staggering toward the Loric Energy, her blood dripping into the sand.

"You know that it will kill her as well," Setrákus sneers. "Tell me, can you really do that?"

I glance at Six. She's just standing there. Ella's staggering toward the Loric Energy, seeming possessed. A thought occurs to me. What would happen if the flow were interrupted. Perhaps by a body being thrown in the way. I definitely wasn't throwing Setrákus into the flow, and I wouldn't be jumping, unless Setrákus was dead first.

 _Is that your plan?_ I ask Ella.

She doesn't respond, but I can feel her in my mind as clear as day. She heard me, and she's choosing not to answer. I grit my teeth. I don't like it. In fact, I hate it. I don't want anyone except the Mogadorians and Setrákus Ra to die. But if killing Ella is what it takes to end this...

"Yes," I growl. "I can."

I wrench the blade out of Setrákus Ra's hand, Marina's hand splitting open further, making her stumble into the well, catching herself. I swing at Setrákus's head and he snaps his left arm up, blocking my sword with his gauntlet, though the sword cuts partially through, a gash opening on Ella's forearm.

"Stop it!" Marina cries out. "You're hurting Ella! ELLA! ! !"

We all spin toward the girl, my hatred for the monster in front of me momentarily forgotten as I see Ella standing on the rim of the well.

"Get down from there!" Setrákus Ra bellows. "What are you-"

Ella turns toward us, her eyes suddenly focused, not spaced out as they had been before. Her skin ripples like she's in a wind tunnel, and her hair is blowing up around her but she's ignoring it.

"You don't get to win, Grandfather," Ella says, voice somehow amplified by the torrent of energy behind her. "Goodbye."

With that, she falls backward into the energy flow. Instantly she begins to contort and be whipped round and round in the flow, arching painfully in every direction. Then, suddenly, there's a blinding flash as energy flows _out_ of the Anubis's pipe and into Ella. Then, suddenly, Ella's transparent. Like every particle in her body separated at once. Like when Eight was disintegrating. Then, she was ejected from the stream which instantly ended, the energy retreating back underground. Ella sails through the air, smoking, and crashes into the side of the crater. Setrákus stares at his pipe just as it breaks and collapses, tons upon tons of broken and deformed metal burying the Loralite well.

I stare at Ella, waiting to see if she moves. She doesn't. Suddenly, Adam shouts in rage, his sword swishing through the air. I spin, seeing Setrákus dodge sideways out of the way of the blade but it scratches a gash into his cheek. He roars in rage, stepping forward, his large, armored fist crashing into Adam's face and launching him backward, Adam's skull cracking, maybe collapsing partially, and sending him flying into Marina. Marina manages to cushion the impact with Telekinesis and instantly begins to drag him out of the pit. However, I'm distracted. Setrákus has picked up Adam's sword and turned to face me.

"So, you think you can fight me, Human?" Setrákus snarls. "Fine. I'll let you try."

He slashes at me and I block it only to stagger backward from the force. He's strong. Much, much stronger than I expected. I duck under the next swipe, slashing at his side. He stabs Adam's sword down into the ground, blocking my sword, the impact jarring my arm and making my entire arm ache. I jump back, expecting a counter. Instead, Setrákus drops, smashing his mouth off the butt of Adam's sword on the way down. I blink in surprise, looking to the others. Marina and Six are both out cold too. I grin. I don't know why they're out, but this is my chance. I step forward, raising the sword to stab Setrákus through the head when a light catches my eye. Ella. She's glowing. Light is pouring out of her eyes, mouth ears, wounds, just like when Eight was reanimated. Then, a bolt of energy shoots out of one of her fingers, hitting me in the forehead, making me stagger back and drop to my knees, driving my sword into the ground to hold myself up.

"W...what..." I trail off, barely able to fight off the sleep starting to come over me.

Bolts of energy by the hundreds are flying off of Ella, shooting out of the crater to God knows where.

 _It's alright James,_ Ella's voice says. _It'll only take a second._

 _Then give me another second so I can end your Grandfather first,_ I reply, trying to stand only for my legs to give out.

 _Sorry, but you have to come now, you're the last one,_ Ella says. _I promise I'll make it up to you somehow._

Then, the pull strengthens and I'm out like a light, hopefully a bit more gracefully than Setrákus went.

* * *

Read and review.


	33. Chapter 33

I do not own Lorien Legacies or any of the characters.

* * *

Meeting

I open my eyes, staring up at a crystal chandelier, one that looked to have diamonds on it. I sit up looking around. Comfortable chairs, a comfortable love seat, comfortable couch, soft comfortable rug that I'm already laying on, and thousands of books on shelves taking up every wall of the relatively small room. I stand, stretching until several spots along my back pop, then sigh contentedly and walk over to the book shelf. Less than a minute ago, I was floating around disembodied, watching Setrákus Ra's life story and his fall from honorable Garde hero and elder to psychotic freak that sucked up Loric Energy to harvest into black goo and then used to give his servants Legacies, weak versions, barely strong enough to lift a small stone, but still. The vision, courtesy of the Entity through Ella, also showed Pittacus Lore putting a noose of some kind of razor-sharp plant that made wounds no legacy could heal around Setrákus Ra's neck then giving him his now signature scar, then failing to execute him, as he was supposed to.

Personally, I really don't care. I mean, sure, it's interesting to know that Pittacus Lore had a legacy that let him copy any other, and it was helpful to know that he actually could, in theory, create legacies given enough Loric Energy, which he definitely has now, but it was essentially pointless. Unless we kill Setrákus, it really doesn't matter who he was. He's a psychopath who needs to die now. And in the end, that's what matters.

I pull a book off the shelf, opening it to see it's a picture book. I start to flip through the pages, seeing it's the car chase we had while fleeing the Mogadorians with Marina and Héctor Ricardo, except that it's from Ella's point of view. I close the book putting it back. I don't need to snoop through her memories. That's just rude.

"What's in it?" a voice asks behind me.

I turn to see Marina standing in the middle of the room, where there was nothing a moment ago.

"Ella's memories," I say, walking away from them. "I kinda wish we could wake up. Ella stopped me from impaling Setrákus's head by about a second after he passed out. Does the fact that I'm here mean I have Legacies?"

"I guess so," Marina nods grinning. "And don't worry. I asked Ella to make sure you wake up before Setrákus Ra does. That should give you just enough time to do what you need to."

I grin, nodding and then sigh, sitting down in one of the chairs. A moment later, Marina's in my lap, legs tucked under her and head on my shoulder.

"It feels good to relax, even if it's just in a dream," Marina sighs.

"I agree," I nod. "When we wake up, it's going to be hectic."

"I know," Marina nods. "Can you handle Setrákus while I heal Adam?"

"I should be able to, yeah," I nod.

Just then, light begins to collect in front of us until Adam is standing before us. He looks around confused, then sees us and his eyes widen a little.

"Oh, sorry," Adam says. "Didn't mean to interrupt."

"Just relaxing," I say. "How's your face?"

"Caved in," Adam says. "I'll survive for the time being, don't worry about that."

"I'll heal you first thing once we're out of the pit," Marina promises. "Then we're going to go back in to help James."

Adam nods but I shake my head.

"No," I say. "One of you two get Ella out of the pit while the other helps me keep Setrákus Ra in it. I'm pretty sure he can't effect Legacies all the way across the crater, so if he tries to follow say Marina up one side, Adam can collapse the ground under him, dropping him back into the crater."

"And then he'll go after me," Adam says.

"And I'll make it not worth the effort," I say. "Me and Six, probably."

"Probably," Adam agrees. "So much for stealing the Anubis."

"Yeah, no kidding," I snort.

"Alright, thanks for waiting," a familiar voice off to the right spoke up. "Right this way, if you please."

I look over and stare at Eight, who's bowing and grinning at us from a doorway that had materialized in the door.

"Eight!" Me and Marina gasp.

"One?" Adam breathes, covering his mouth before looking at us confused.

"We each see someone specific to us?" I guess. "Then why are me and Marina both seeing Eight?"

"Maybe there's something you haven't told us," Adam suggests, then grins.

"You're kidding, right?" I growl.

"Well obviously," Adam says.

I sigh and shake my head. Marina climbs off and stands and I stand as well, looking at Eight but find I can't meet his eyes.

"Cheer up James," Eight laughs. "You take life way to seriously. Everything's going to turn out just fine. I promised I'd watch over the two of you didn't I?"

I nod, glancing at the others. Adam's moving his mouth like he's speaking but he's barely whispering.

"I know," Marina says, gaze dropping to the floor, obviously having a conversation I can't hear. "I'll wait. Of course I'll wait. But, how will I..."

She trails off and I look back at Eight as he gestures for me to follow. I start forward, Marina and Adam walking beside me. On the other side of the door is a long white hallway. Eight holds a hand up to stop me, Marina and Adam continuing to walk then fading from sight a few feet away. Before I can even think to panic, Eight chuckles.

"Relax," Eight laughs. "Their going a different way than us. You don't get to sit with them, not yet, at least. Soon though."

"Eight, are you really Eight, or just a projection from my mind?" I ask.

"Both?" Eight shrugs. "Hell if I know. Anyway, you can start kissing my boots now."

"Why?" I ask.

"How do you think you really got through that barrier alive?" Eight laughs. "A pair of Loric pendants and Marina hugging you?"

He chuckles and I blush a little.

"Relax," Eight laughs. "Anyway, we should go."

I nod, following him down the hallway.

"Did you get the Entity to give me Legacies too?" I ask.

"No," Eight says. "That I had no sway over, though I'm glad you do. I'm rooting for you to get my set, or at least, teleporting."

"That would be nice," I snort. "I'd take telekinesis to."

Eight nods laughing.

"All in due time," Eight laughs. "Now, about you and Marina."

I groan. I knew this was coming.

"Why are you still holding her at arm's length?" Eight asks seriously. "I told you to drop the curse crap. And I told you to take care of her."

"I am taking care of her," I say. "And I'm still trying to hold her at arm's length because..."

"Because you're scared?" Eight asks.

I sigh and nod.

"Don't be," Eight says. "You are strong, even without your legacies, which haven't even come in yet. You just have to have faith."

"I know," I sigh. "But..."

"Enough," Eight says stopping as a door formed in front of us. "Just stop worrying about what could happen. Both of you are still alive despite what's currently going on. That should be proof enough that you can keep her safe. No, go through that door, find a seat, and be patient."

"But..." I trail off as he fades.

With no other options, I sigh, opening the door and finding myself in a stadium, in the stands overlooking a round table with a Loric symbol carved into it, the same that the old Loric Elders sat at in the vision the Entity had shown us. I sit in a seat in the front row, looking around. Alone. Alright. Patience. Great. Slowly, whispers begin to grow around me. They grow louder as people form, the other new human Gard. All several hundred of them. To my right is Sam, and on his other side is a girl with dark brown hair pulled back into rows of braids and a runner's build.

"Sup Sam," I greet making him jump.

"Jesus James!" he snaps. "When the hell did you get there?"

"Just now," I smirk. "How you guys holding up?"

"We're under attack by some giant alien monster right now actually," the girl says. "It's trying to step on us all as we speak so, not great. But thanks for asking."

"You must be Daniela," I guess. "Sam mentioned you. Pleasure to meet you."

"Well aren't you polite," she grins. "Gonna ask me for a date next?"

"You wish," I snort. "I'm kind of spoken for."

"Oh did you finally kiss her?" Sam asks, knowing my answer already.

I roll my eyes looking away.

"Thought not," Sam grinned.

"Oh really Sam?" I grin. "You wanna play the 'who's further ahead game' with me? Alright. How about we explain you and Six's wild night to Daniela. I'm sure she'd be interested."

Daniela grins evilly.

"Shut up," Sam grumbles, blushing.

"That's what I thought," I grin. "Next time don't try to embarrass me. Oh, and about the giant alien monster, we're fighting the alien ruler right now, so I really don't want to hear it."

Daniela rolled her eyes but I saw Sam pale.

"She's fine," I say. "We all are."

Sam nods just as people begin to appear at the table in the center of the room. Ella sits in one chair with a bound Setrákus Ra to her left, followed by Five, then Adam, Nine, John, Lexa, Marina, and Six. Setrákus has a black bag over his head and apparently can't see or hear, and he's struggling against his chains.

"Look!" a Japanese girl shouts, pointing at the table.

The room is suddenly buzzing with questions, but it eventually dies down. Those sitting in the middle of the room begin to look around at each other, waiting for someone to speak. Out of all of them, most look uncomfortable, and a couple look like they might hide under the table. Nine, on the other hand, is looking around the room, nodding to random people.

"What's up?" Nine grins, a few people around the room snickering.

Finally John stands. Several people whisper things like, "It's John Smith," or "It's the dude from Youtube." I have no idea how he's suddenly so famous, but I suspect Sarah may have something to do with it. John asks Ella something, getting a short response then nodding to himself.

"Hi," John begins, raising a hand. "I'm John Smith. We're what's left of the Loric."

"And going to shrink one," I whisper to Sam and he grins.

"Better be only one from your end," Sam whispers back.

I nod as John continues.

"I guess you probably saw what we saw, right?" John asks. "Well, that story ends with Setrákus Ra here coming back to our planet, Lorien, and massacring everyone on it. Everyone except us." He pauses, either to let it sink in or to think on what to say. "If you're not sure what this has to do with you, well, maybe you noticed all the alien warships on the news? Setrákus Ra is here. He is going to do to Earth what he did to Lorien. Unless we stop him."

John's eyes sweep the crowd as he speaks, making eye contact with as many as he can. He's a pretty good leader, and a natural public speaker. Good. That's not my job.

"I don't mean we as in my, uh, friends here sitting at the table," John continues. "I mean you and us. Everyone in this room. I know this is crazy. It probably doesn't even seem fair. A few days ago you were leading normal lives. Now, without warning, there are aliens on your planet and you can move objects with your minds. Right? I mean...is there anyone here who can't do Telekinesis yet?"

Several hands rise around the room, including mine and a young Hawaiian kid who's been crying this whole time. John's eyes find me for the first time and he cocks his head, squinting, then grins and shakes his head before becoming serious again.

"You must be really confused by all this then," John speaks up. "Try it when you get out of here. Just, uh...visualize something in your house moving through the air. Really focus on it. It'll work, I promise. You'll amaze yourself and probably freak out your parents. Has anyone developed any other powers, besides Telekinesis? We call them Legacies, by the way. Anyone else...?"

A stout guy with brown hair stands up.

"My name is Bertrand," the guy says in a slight german accent. "My family, they are beekeepers. Yesterday, I noticed the bees, um...they talk to me. I thought I was going crazy but the swarm goes where I tell them too, so..."

"That's amazing Bertrand," John says. "That's really quick to develop a Legacy. I promise the rest of you will get them too. And they won't all be talking to insects. We can train you to use them. We have people that know, people with experience..." John pauses to glance around the table and I grin. He's making them all Cêpan. "Anyway, there's a reason you're getting the Legacies, especially now. In case you haven't figured it out yet...it's because you're supposed to help us defend the Earth."

I look around the room. There are some that look ready. A lot cheer. I can even spot a handful more military. But almost all of them are just kids. Most begin to murmur amongst each other uncertainly.

"Children," I breathe. "He's recruiting children."

Sam nods.

"Not much choice," Sam says.

I nod in agreement just as John raises his hands for silence.

"I'm not going to lie and say that what I'm asking you to do isn't dangerous," John says. "It most certainly is. I'm asking you to leave your lives behind, and leave your families behind to join a fight that started in an entirely different galaxy."

John's eyes flash to Daniela and she smirks.

"I obviously can't make you join us," John continues. "In a few minutes, you'll wake up from this little meeting back wherever you were. Where it's safe, hopefully. And maybe those of us who do fight, the armies of the world, all of us...maybe that will be enough. Maybe we can fight off the Mogadorians and save Earth. But if we fail, even if you stay on the sidelines for this battle...they will come for you. So, I'm asking you all, even though you don't know me, even though we've royally shaken up your lives, stand with us. Help us save the Earth."

"Hell yeah," Nine says clapping. "You heard him, newbs. Quit being wimps and join the goddamn fight."

The silence breaks the moment Nine starts talking. Questions ring out all around the room, and some comments.

"Is that a Mogadorian at the table?"

"Go back to your galaxy, freaks!"

"How do I quit breaking stuff with my Telekinesis?"

"I want to go home!"

"How can we stop them?"

"What's up with your eyepatch, bro?"

"Can the scary guy see us?"

"Why do they want to kill us?"

Then, finally, some kid with a bleach blond mohawk and dressed like some punk rocker stands and then stomps hard. His combat boots make a sound loud enough to silence everyone.

"You lot are in America, right mate?" He asks in a British accent. "Let's say I did want to join the fight and take it to these pasty wankers. How the hell am I supposed to get to you? In case you haven't noticed, there's no bloody transatlantic flights on account of the giant spacecrafts."

"I can answer that," Ella speaks up, voice ringing and melodious.

The Entity speaking through her. Above her on the ceiling, there's a world map I hadn't noticed before. Dots of light begin to appear on the map. The brightest I recognize as the stones Eight had been able to teleport around with, but there are new ones. However, without a teleporter, there's really no way to use them.

"These are locations of Loralite stones," the Entity says. "The brightest ones have existed on Earth for a long time. The others are only now beginning to form as I bond with the Earth. Soon, they will surface."

Marina says something to Ella, probably pointing out only Eight could use them before.

"The Loralite are attuned to your Legacies," the Entity says. "When you are close, you will feel their pull. All you need to do is touch them and picture the location of another stone. The Loralite will do the rest."

"Is that Stonehenge?" the Brit asks. "Alright. That's doable."

"I think another of those is in Somalia," another says.

"There will be more changes to your environment-" Ella stops, hands melting into the table as she shook violently, sparks flying off of her. Then, she spoke again, this time with her own voice. "He's breaking through!"

The chains binding Setrákus Ra explode, clattering across the table and ground, passing harmlessly through everyone. In an instant, Setrákus is on his feet, hood off and snarling. People begin to scream and scramble over their chairs, though, there's nowhere to run. Setrákus Ra lays a hand on Ella's shoulder but she doesn't react so he turns to the nearest Garde, Five.

"I don't know what they told you!" Setrákus bellows to the human Garde, eyes sweeping the crowd, memorizing faces. "I assure you, it is foolishness! If you saw what I saw, then you saw how the Loric tried to murder me for the crime of curiosity. Come! Swear allegiance to your Beloved Leader and I will show you how to truly harness your powers!"

No one rushes to pledge allegiance, but almost all look terrified.

"I'm releasing you," Ella warns, speaking loud enough for Six, Daniela, and I to hear as well. "Be ready, it'll happen quick."

Then, she slumps forward. The room begins to dim instantly, and John and Nine wink out of existence after a moment. Setrákus is not pleased.

"I have seen your faces!" Setrákus Ra seethes. "I will hunt you! I will kill you! I will-"

I leap off the balcony, Marina holding her hand out, catching me with Telekinesis and quickly dropping me on the table in front of Setrákus, blocking him from seeing the human Garde.

"Hey there beautiful," I grin. "Remember me?"

"James," Setrákus growls. "I'm surprised you didn't kill me after I passed out."

"Not from lack of trying, I assure you," I snarl. "Your granddaughter wouldn't let me."

"I see," Setrákus nods. "Well, while we have time, tell me, do you worry about Marina? Aren't you afraid your curse will reach her too?"

I stiffen. My eyes narrow at him.

"Kind of funny wasn't it, how the one girl you sent away died in a plane crash the next day?" Setrákus smirks.

I swallow hard. There was no way. The Mogadorians couldn't have been behind my curse. Why would they? It had to be a trick.

"Tell you what," Setrákus grins. "When we wake up, I'll see to it your curse gets some exercise. How does that sound? That should repay you for thinking you are strong enough to defy me without any active Legacies."

"I'm going to tear you apart," I snarl.

Then, everything goes dark.

* * *

Read and review.


	34. Chapter 34

I do not own Lorien Legacies or any of the characters.

* * *

Protection

I wake before my head even hits the dirt. All of the pain from my injuries hits me anew and i grit my teeth, managing to catch myself and grab my sword, pushing myself up, swaying unsteadily. Setrákus Ra is stirring as well. So much for having the chance to kill him when I woke up. He's as unsteady as me, maybe more from that smack to the mouth. I shake my head, forcing my body to respond and look to the side, seeing Marina dragging Adam up the incline, fast. I know she heard Setrákus Ra's threat, but she's got a task to do, as much as I wish she'd just run.

I rip my sword out of the ground, seeing Six carrying Ella away from Setrákus. Setrákus rips Adam's sword free of the ground and grins at me. I instantly dart around to stand between him and Marina. Setrákus laughs, then motions for me to attack. Yeah, great idea. of course, that will mean I have the chance to stop him getting any closer. I swallow hard then sprint forward. Setrákus grins and moves to go around me, as I expected. I lunge sideways. I fall short but I manage to take his leg out from under him with my sword. He crashes down hard, face bouncing off the ground and Adam's sword carving a gash into his arm.

"You piece of filth!" Setrákus seethes.

"What's wrong?" I ask, praying I don't regret this. "Can't beat a human in a fight?"

Setrákus's eye twitches and he stands, stabbing Adam's sword into the ground. Then, he begins to grow. In seconds, he towers over me at almost twenty feet. I turn, sprinting away from Marina, who's been forced to take cover from Mogadorian blaster fire. Within seconds I hear Setrákus's gigantic foot falls chasing me. I stop, rolling to the side as his cinderblock sized fist crashes into the ground. I look at his armor and grin. His joints are unarmored to allow for mobility. Which gives me more targets than his head. Setrákus spins toward me, punch already flying. There's no way I can dodge it. Fortunately, before I have to, a lion with the head of an eagle and a massive pair of white-feathered wings flies by, slashing Setrákus across the face before arching around and going to tear into the Mogadorians that had regrouped at the bottom of one of the Anubis's gangways, the ones pinning down Marina.

Setrákus staggers backward, howling in pain and clutching his face. I grin, sprinting past his leg then spin, stabbing my sword into it. I instantly rip my sword sideways out of the knee before he can take the sword from me and Setrákus bellows in pain again, staggering forward and shouting in rage. He kicks back at me but I've already moved out of the way. Just as he turns to attack me, I slam my sword into his injured leg and he drops to that knee, shouting in rage and pushing himself up with his good leg, clutching at his wound. Just then, a massive earthquake rock the ground, knocking me off my feet before Setrákus Ra crashes down, hard. I think he may actually shrink a bit as he lands, but that might be my imagination. I look off to the side just as a jackhammer-sized icicle streaks over my head. I hear Setrákus shout in pain and rage but somehow I know it's not a worthwhile hit. Marina is already preparing another icicle and I push myself up, sprinting away from Setrákus, grabbing Adam's much larger sword on the way by. It's heavier than my own, being a larger sword, and I already detest it, but respect Adam for successfully wielding it.

I toss it to the ground in front of Adam then turn back to Setrákus Ra as he pushes himself up.

"I am not dying at the hands of children," Setrákus Ra snarls as he uses his Telekinesis to shatter Marina's second icicle.

His face is slashed, his ear is missing, and his leg is bleeding heavily. He doesn't sound too sure about that. He begins to scramble up the side of the crater toward Marina and Adam but they keep him away with a combination of Adam's earthquakes, Marina freezing the ground, and Marina hurling chunks of ice. it works well. Setrákus, with his wounded leg, can't get close. Of course, I'm not letting him get to them either. I see Six return to the other side of the crater and Sarah runs toward her. I sprint over as well, knocking Setrákus Ra's good foot out from under him as I pass, sending him rolling down the crater's side. Then, I sprint up the far side, stopping beside the others.

"Mind if I borrow that?" I ask.

Sarah hands over her blaster and I kneel, sighting in on Setrákus. Even giant, his armor's not blaster proof. I fire a burst at him and it sizzles into the back of his left shoulder. He shouts in rage, sending debris flying at us. Six deflects it with her Telekinesis. Then, suddenly, Setrákus Ra tears what remains of the pipe from the Anubis and hurls it at Adam and Marina. Adam dives one way and Marina the other. Both are safe, but without them peppering Setrákus with their Legacies, he begins to scramble up the side of the crater at them.

I fire again, hitting his injured leg and he shouts in pain. He pauses just long enough for me to shoot the other leg as well and he begins to slide back down. Suddenly, a tornado begins to form over him, dark clouds suddenly surrounding the Anubis. I grin. Then, Six screams in pain. I grab her and roll behind a pile of debris, Sarah doing the same just as more blaster fire shot past. Reinforcements. I hand the blaster back to Sarah and sprint down the crater after Setrákus Ra, who's begun to climb again. I sprint up after him and slash the bottom of his good foot then roll to the side as the other manages to kick at me.

"Where the hell are you going?" I growl.

"To see your girlfriend," Setrákus snarls. "I'll tell her you say hi."

Then, I'm flying. Well, thrown by Telekinesis actually, but still. I crash into the side of the crater hard, actually managing to bounce out of it. I crash down at the top and groan. My ribs feel broken, all of them, but I can move so I may have gotten off easy. I get onto my feet just as Setrákus reaches the top of the crater. Marina is in front of him. Too close. She shoves her hand at him but nothing happens. Then, Setrákus extends his hand. My heart stops. Adam's too far away. Sarah and Six are pinned down. Mark's trying to kill the Mogadorians coming from both the Anubis and the jungle now, the jungle group having Phiri Dun-Ra in the lead. Marina sails into the air. Then, in the blink of an eye, she's on the ground again. Then the air. Then the ground.

"STOP! ! !" I shout, voice breaking almost instantly, my arm extended.

At the last possible second before Marina slams down again, she freezes in mid air. Setrákus Ra falters, then extends his hand again, trying to move her. She trembles, my head aches, but she doesn't move. I hold my other hand out toward Setrákus and suddenly he's the one flying through the air. I smash him into the barrier under the Anubis then send him downward as hard as I can. Adam sprints over to Marina, taking her into his arms and I push myself up, turning toward the group of Mogadorians that are led by Phiri Dun-Ra, who's staring at me in terror. If I was deadly pretending to be a Garde, this was going to be fun. I hold my hand out and a massive bolder of limestone rips free from the ground. Then, I whip my hand through the air in front of me and it streaks past, straight at the Mogadorians. Phiri Dun-Ra is the only one to dive aside, so the boulder plows through the group, slaughtering a dozen or so. The rest are disorganized instantly. I send a volley of stones at them, managing to kill a couple but mostly to scatter the rest. Instantly Sarah begins to pick them off while Mark turns back to the Mogadorians at the gangway. I send a few stones at them as well, then I turn to Setrákus Ra, who's miraculously, standing again.

"How did you do that?" he snarls.

"Doesn't matter to you," I reply, my voice even but dripping enough venom that even Setrákus Ra is watching me warily.

"James, let us handle him," Six says. "You go after Adam."

I stare at her a second then nod. Before I leave, however, I send Setrákus Ra flying into the air one more time. Then, I sprint around the crater, heading into the jungle after Marina. She would be okay. She had to. He had only slammed her down twice. The image of Marina's clearly broken body flashes through my mind again. I force it out. She'd be fine. We'd get her to John and John would heal her. He had to. I wouldn't let my curse take Marina. It couldn't have her. She was off limits. I reach the ship in record time, beating any timed run I've had in my life and bound up the ramp onto the ship. Adam's at the back of the ship with Marina, strapping her to a bed to keep her from being jostled when we inevitably have to outrun the Anubis. Even if Six somehow kills Setrákus Ra, it won't matter. the Anubis is still going to chase us. For revenge. For Setrákus Ra. I kneel down beside Marina, eyes stinging.

"Marina," I whisper, voice barely a wheeze.

Adam instantly turns and walks to the front of the ship, leaving me alone. I try to speak but choke up.

"Marina, you can't die," I manage to choke out, crying now. "I...I need you, Marina. I can't lose you. Please. You have to hold on. You're not allowed to leave me. I love you. Please. Hang in there. I'm begging you."

I don't know how long I sit there, but eventually Mark returns. Probably only a few minutes later. He goes immediately to the front of the ship as well. Then, a few minutes later, we hear screaming. It's Six. She's calling for help. Adam and Mark both sprint out of the ship, Adam swearing loudly as he does and I stand, hurrying to the door to see a wounded Six carrying Sarah up the ramp with help from Adam and Mark. Sarah's finished. There's no way she can survive. Something tore a massive chunk out of her side, just above the hip. She'll bleed out in minutes if someone doesn't do something. Six sets her just inside, the ramp closing and Six shouting for Lexa to punch it. Lexa does just that and the ship jerks violently as it shoots forward. Almost instantly blaster fire from the Anubis begins to flash past us.

"Damnit, hold on Sarah!" Six growls, trying desperately to stop the bleeding.

"Six, can I have your phone?" Sarah asks. "I want to call John."

Six bites back a sob and nods, puling her phone out and handing it to Sarah. I gently push Six aside.

"Move," I say, gritting my teeth against what I know is going to hurt, a lot.

I hold my hands out, focusing on the spots where Sarah is bleeding heaviest and suddenly, the bleeding stops. I have six wipe what's left away quickly so I can see and I can make out veins of varying sizes in what's left of her side. I slowly stop the rest of the bleeding too, Sarah pausing in her attempt to dial John in order to see what I'm doing.

"Holy shit," Six breathes. "You're doing it!"

"Yeah, but this will give her a heart attack," I growl. "Hold on. I'm going to try something."

Sarah and Six both nod and suddenly, something in Sarah's side begins to move. It's because of me, of course. The thing moving is tiny, transparent tubes. They're stretching out of the remains of Sarah's veins where I had placed similar plugs before. As they stretch, the exposed ends open. Then, they meet their twin and I begin to let blood through. So, good news bad news. Good news, I created artificial veins with my Telekinesis. Bad news, my head feels like someone is slowly injecting boiling water into my brain. It occurs to me that my brain might actually be tearing itself apart.

"Jesus Christ!" Six gapes. "How the hell are you doing that!?"

Blood pumps through the artificial veins and arteries as though they were normal, the Telepathic creations barely visible, giving the illusion that the blood is just floating to the other side of the gap. I grit my teeth, slowly shaking my head, blood trickling out of my nose already. Barely a minute in and I'm already bleeding.

"Jesus James, you're bleeding!" Six gasps. "Are you going to be able to keep this up?"

"I have to," I grunt just as the ship banks.

It takes all my control for the veins and arteries not to disappear right there.

"Can't focus," I grunt.

"Ella," Six says, turning to the girl.

She's awake now, her face smeared with some sort of thick black fluid, but she has her knees tucked to her chest and she's crying.

"Ella, can you help James concentrate?" Six asks. "Block everything else for him or something?"

Ella nods and closes her eyes, sniffing. Then, a moment later, everything stops. I still feel the agonizing pain, the the world outside has stopped registering in my brain, except for Sarah and my creations. I grit my teeth, forcing myself to ignore the pain. It's not easy. Not even a little. But I cannot allow Sarah to die. Not if I have the power to save her. No one is dying.

* * *

Read and review.


	35. Chapter 35

I do not own Lorien Legacies or any of the characters.

* * *

Saved

 _I can't hold this much longer,_ I say as the pain reaches a level I can't block out and that's threatening to make the constructs disappear. Already blood is starting to seep through their walls and run down Sarah's side.

 _We're almost there,_ Ella's voice says. _Just a little longer._

 _Make sure John gets onto this ship instantly to save his girlfriend,_ I snarl, the pain starting to make me mad. _I'm tired of doing more for his girlfriend than for mine._

I can sense Ella grinning at me calling Marina my girlfriend and can't help but grin as well.

 _He's going to be hurrying, trust me,_ Ella promises.

One of the artificial veins fades. I try to recreate it but the strain makes several more disappear. I focus on what's left, forcing them to remain solid, though I'm pretty sure the effort makes a string of words I haven't said in a while come out, though I'm not paying attention to my vocabulary at the moment.

Another vein fades. I can feel the others beginning to weaken. I grit my teeth, head screaming in agony.

 _Hang in there James, we're almost there!_

 _I've been hanging in there since we left Mexico!_ I snap. _This was hard in a couple of seconds! How long have I been at this anyway?_

 _A couple of hours,_ Ella says. _Hang in there just another minute._

I nod, gritting my teeth as I strengthen the remaining creations to keep them from oozing any more blood than Sarah's already bleeding. I know she won't last long, and she'll probably die if I stop. But I somehow manage to hold out. Soon, I see Sarah's wound starting to seal itself and the world around me returns. I somehow ended up on my side against the wall, probably because all of my energy was devoted to keeping Sarah from bleeding out and I wasn't keeping myself upright while we were being shot at. I finally let my creations disappear, my vision swimming instantly, and John finishes healing Sarah. Once he's done, he kisses her, relieved that she's alive. Then, he moves over, starting to try to heal my head. The pain goes away but I still feel weak.

"Thank you," John says, barely holding back his tears of relief.

"Don't go crying on me John," I grin. "It's not your thing. how long til I'm back to normal?"

"Human normal probably tomorrow," John says. "But I'd take it easy on your Legacies for a while."

I nod then turn to look back at Marina. John looks as well and stands, walking over and beginning to heal her. Once he's finished, he walks back over and crouches down.

"She'll be alright now," John says. "She just needs rest. Now, get up."

He hauls me to my feet and I groan, head spinning. Six takes my other arm over her shoulder and the two of them help me out of the ship and down the ramp. I see a bunch of armed guards and the government agent who exposed MogPro to us, what was it, Walker? We continue past them. The new hideout is an old log cabin, however, in one of the back rooms is a hidden elevator behind a trick bookcase. The three of us get in, followed by the rest of us: Sarah, Sam, Daniela, Nine, Ella, and Malcolm, who brings a gurney with Marina on it. The elevator is big, but with so many people, and a gurney, it's cramped, to say the least. I push off of Six and John, steadying myself against the wall as I stare down at Marina. She's breathing steadily but she's still not conscious. When the door opens, Malcolm pushes the gurney out of the elevator and I follow. Most of the others go their separate ways, Six following Sam to the room she would undoubtedly be sharing with him, John leading Sarah to theirs, Nine leading Ella to the room she'd be staying in, and Daniela going to her room. I'm not sure where Lexa is, probably finding out where to park the ship, but at the moment, I don't care. I'm to tired to think about the ship, or Setrákus Ra, or my Legacies, or Sarah, or the others, or anything. I need sleep, and I need to know Marina is okay. It's not that I don't trust John, I just need proof.

Malcolm carefully transfers Marina onto one of the beds in the infirmary and I sit down beside her. Malcolm leaves, taking the gurney with him and leaving me alone with her. I take her hand, holding it between both of mine as tears begin to fall again, this time from relief, and exhaustion, and tears I held back from the pain of using my Legacy, and the stress of the battle. After a moment, Marina's hand squeezes mine and I open my eyes, looking up at her to see her smiling at me.

"Hey James," she smiles. "Did we win?"

"I think so," I nod smiling. "We all got away alive, anyway, though it was close. I had to keep Sarah alive until John could heal her but she ended up in better condition than either of us."

Marina smiles and nods, though she looks a little confused as to how and when Sarah was injured.

"What about Setrákus Ra?" She asks.

"I don't know," I say. "I doubt we've seen the last of him, though I hope we have."

Marina nods then smiles wider.

"You look terrible," she smiles.

"I may have nearly torn my brain apart with my Telekinesis," I smile. "I'm supposed to be asleep."

"Then sleep," she smiles.

"Not yet," I say shaking my head. "There's something I have to do first."

Marina looks confused until I lean down, kissing her lightly. After a moment, I pull back and she smiles, eyes watering.

"That bad am I?" I grin.

She laughs shaking her head and pulling me down for another. After a minute or so, I pull back, smiling.

"I love you," I smile. "I'm sorry I've been so stubborn."

"It's alright," she smiles. "It's one of the reasons I love you. Just don't go breaking up with me any time soon."

I laugh and nod. She yawns and closes her eyes, drifting back to sleep. I lay my head down on the bed beside her and almost instantly pass out as well.

* * *

Read and review.


	36. Chapter 36

I do not own Lorien Legacies or any of the characters.

* * *

Planning

I stir and sit up, stretching and yawning. My head hurts a little bit still, but I feel rested now. Marina's still asleep. I stand, deciding to stretch my legs and see what the base is like, when suddenly John steps into the room. His hair's a mess and there are still dark rings under his eyes but he's smiling.

"Meeting," John says.

"Might wanna fix your sex hair then," I grin.

He blinks in confusion and looks in a mirror over a sink on the wall, seeing how bad his hair is and wetting it back into place.

"So how was it?" I grin as we walk down the hallways, John leading.

"Shut up," John grumbles, cheeks pink and a grin on his face.

"Oh God you're almost as bad as Sam," I laugh.

"I will burn you," John threatens.

"I threw Setrákus Ra at full power and completely blocked his Telekinesis," I snort. "Not at full power I'll still supernaturally fling your flaming butt up and down this hall."

John grins shaking his head.

"Wish I could have seen that," John sighs.

"Felt great," I say. "I'd have traded it for Marina not being hurt though."

"But if she wasn't, would you two be together now?" John asks, grinning.

I open my mouth to respond but he has a point. I grin and shake my head as John stops at a door.

"I think we're last," John says. "Ready to meet somebody you used to have to salute?"

"Oh I'm sure there are a lot of officers in there," I snort. "But yeah, I'll meet the boss."

John opens the door and walks to the end of the table where our group is seated. He sits at the head, exactly where a leader belongs, and Lexa begins to discus something with him, handing him one of the cloaking devices we had salvaged before everything in Mexico went down the drain. I walk over and sit down beside Ella, in between her and Daniela.

"Nice to meet you in person," I say. "James."

"Daniela," she says shaking my hand. "What've you got?"

"Telekinesis and a lot of creativity," I say.

"Sounds good to me," she grins. "I can shoot rays out of my eyes to turn stuff to stone."

"Should have gone with dread locks," I grin.

"That's what I said," Daniela grins.

"Well, you got me beat either way," I shrug.

"With your Telekinesis?" Six scoffs from across the table from me, beside Sam. "I don't think so. You created something physical out of your Telekinesis."

"We can do that?" Daniela gapes.

"No," Ella says, looking over at us. "It wasn't Telekinesis. It was Flyrokinesis."

"Force Field manipulation?" Sam asks.

"How the hell do you know what she just said?" Daniela asks.

"It's...uh...an nerd thing," Sam shrugs. "Where'd Lorien's spirit or whatever come up with that name?"

"He didn't," Ella says. "There were a lot of Legacies that Legacy never gave names to. Actually, he never named any. But what James was doing was making Force Fields, not using his Telekinesis. So I looked online and found a name for it. Now, he has Flyrokinesis."

I grin and shrug.

"Works for me," I say. "It felt the same as my Telekinesis."

"It's similar, like Telepathy and speaking to animals," Ella explains. "One is just more advanced than the other."

Flyrokinesis is more advanced?" I guess.

"Much," Ella nods. "Like with Telekinesis, the smaller and more precise you make it, the harder it will be. Making a shield should be easy. Making artificial blood vessels is not."

"Noticed," I snort. "Who we waiting for?"

"No one," Ella says quietly. "He's giving you a minute to get anything you need to say to us out of the way so you'll listen."

"Smart man," I smirk.

"I think we're about ready to get started," a man seated exactly opposite John speaks up.

Behind and to either side of him like bodyguards are a pair of twins in starched blue uniforms that I recognize as Army. I suspect they may be human Garde as well. Most of the rest of the people in the room are armed and watching us Garde carefully.

On one side of the table, Agent Walker sits in the gap between military and Garde. Behind the leader of the military, whose name tag reads Lawson, I see a touchscreen display of a world map with a bunch of red dots on major cities. Warships. In the US, there are a bunch of tiny green dots around all of the warships.

I look around. Hawkeye and Rookie aren't here. It hadn't occurred to me that I didn't see them the night before. I look to John and he nods slightly.

 _They're safe, just not invited to the meeting,_ Ella says. _They were working with the armory when we got here. Apparently they've been drafted by Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Lawson._

I stare at her then at Lawson. Yup. I would have saluted him even now, had I known who he was.

"For those of you who don't know me, I'm General Clarence Lawson," Lawson begins. "Full authority has been granted to me by the president to coordinate our country's response to the Mogadorian invasion."

He pauses, probably for us to introduce ourselves. No one speaks.

"You let me know if I go to fast for you," Lawson says.

I hold back a grin. He's just introduced himself, and he thinks he's going too fast. He must think the aliens in the room don't understand English or something.

"I'm not a man to waste words, and I'm not used to discussing strategy to civilian teenagers, be they extraterrestrials or otherwise," Lawson continues.

"You won't go too fast for us," John says, staring at Lawson.

"As for the rest of you," Lawson says, looking at the non-super-powered humans in the room. "Keep in mind that these young people have probably killed more hostile aliens than all the branches of our armed services combined. Respect that and respect their presence."

Lawson picks up a tablet and presses it and a countdown clock appears on the wall behind him.

"We are approximately ten hours beyond Setrákus Ra's deadline for unconditional surrender, which included the demand to turn over all so-called 'renegade' Garde as well as lanes. To our knowledge...yes?"

I drop my hand, looking around the room.

"Who's Lane?" I ask. "Is he a human Garde who made Setrákus mad?"

"It's an acronym," Sam speaks up. "Legacy Afflicted Natural Earthling."

The Loric Garde almost all tense as Sam says the word afflicted.

"Afflicted?" I snort. "What so Telekinesis is a disease now?"

"It's Augmented," Lawson corrects.

"Only in front of us," Six accuses.

"Enough," John says. "Please, continue."

Lawson nods.

"To our knowledge, only Moscow has complied with this ultimatum," Lawson says. "The Russian government began arresting dozens of youths last night. Our agents report that many of them haven't even manifested Legacies yet and are likely antigovernment agitators who the administration saw the chance to get rid of while simultaneously placating the hostiles."

"Something will have to be done about that," John says evenly, not asking.

"Agreed," Lawson nods. "However, humanitarian abuses by other governments will have to be back-burnered. Frankly, we should consider ourselves lucky that only the Russians have kowtowed to the hostiles. We've been able to communicate with most of our international allies and are encouraging them to evacuate the cities threatened by warships while covertly organizing counterstrike forces in the event we can crack the Mogadorian shields. However, if Setrákus Ra executes his promised attacks—and they're on the level of New York or Beijing—I'm not sure if these other countries will have the ability to stay the course. I think we can all agree that we're up against a ticking clock. It's not if Setrákus Ra makes good on his threats, but when."

At the mention of New York, Daniela clears her throat. John glances at her then back at Lawson.

"What's the situation in New York?" John asks.

"Same," Lawson says. "Mogadorian troops. "Mogadorian troops hold Manhattan, with our forces working triage and evacuation in the outer boroughs. Also not a priority at the moment, unless the warship returns."

I look to the others in confusion and Six mouths the word "Anubis" at me. I nod.

"Are you tracking the Anubis?" John asks.

"We are," Lawson nods. "After attacking your people in Mexico, it did not return to New York. Our recon shows it holding in West Virginia over a mountain. Some MogPro agents that we've interrogated have indicated this is..."

"Yeah yeah," Nine interrupts. "Most of us here have had the shit like to be stuck in the place once or twice. It's their big base."

I see the twins bristle at the lack of respect Nine showed, though I would love to see how they would do if Nine was actually paying attention and bored, and Lawson pauses to allow the humans in the room to grasp what Nine had said. Nine is already doodling again on a piece of US Army stationary, drawing explosions on it. I shake my head, smirking.

"We are aware of the base," John finally says. "We've infiltrated it once before, but we've never had the resources to properly attack it until now."

"Ella, why has Setrákus Ra stopped the Anubis there?" Six asks. "What is...what is he waiting for?"

All eyes turn to Ella. She looks uncomfortable with the attention.

"Do you want...do you want me to make contact with him?" Ella asks.

"Whoa, hold on!" Six begins.

"Can you do it without him knowing?" John asks. "Without putting yourself in danger?"

"I think so," Ella nods, closing her eyes. "If I'm quick."

The Loric glow coming off of her intensifies and everyone watches. Then, the humans begin looking at us in confusion.

"She's a telepath," John says.

Suddenly, Ella gasps, jumping every human in the room, and even some of the Garde. We can't help it, Ella's a little creepy now.

"Are you alright?" John asks.

"Yes," Ella nods. "He almost sensed me. His mind is busy. He was hurt badly. His trueborn aids put him in the vats to accelerate the healing process."

"He uses the vats to grow their soldiers-" John begins but Lawson waves him off.

"We already know about the vats," Lawson says. "Do you know when he'll be done healing? When the attacks will resume?"

Ella shakes her head. "The wounds were almost fatal. They would have killed someone without his augmentations."

Six looks displeased at the news that he's recovering, even though we all knew he was still alive.

"We talking hours? Days? A week?" Lawson asks.

"Longer than hours," Ella says. "Probably not days. There are others in the vats with him."

"Gross," Nine says.

"The vats work differently than before," Ella continues. "Now that he has what...what he stole from us. While Setrákus Ra heals, he's also working. These others, he's making them into something new."

"What did Setrákus Ra steal from you?" Lawson asks.

Ella looks at Six, then at John. John subtly shakes his head and I inwardly smile. It's probably best if no one knows what can happen when you hideously exploit Loric Energy.

"Something precious to our people," Ella says.

Lawson seems to know there's more too it than that, but doesn't push the subject. He waves his hand and an officer by the door leaves.

"Alright then, if we're ready to discuss counterstrike measures-" Lawson begins.

"About time," Nine says, shoving his artwork aside, in front of John, who can't help but grin at it.

"-we should have all our intelligence assets available," Lawson finishes.

A moment later, the officer returns, leading a pair of guards, both armed in full combat gear and armed with assault rifles, neither taking their eyes off the exhausted prisoner between them. Adam. He has shackles on his hands and feet and clearly hasn't slept once since we got here. Our entire end of the room is on our feet instantly. At the same time, a few of the guards around the room anxiously raise their weapons a fraction of an inch. I ready myself to relieve them of their weapons if needed, but they don't raise their weapons anymore. It's more a muscle reaction than decision.

"What is this bullshit!?" Six demands.

"It's alright Six," Adam says tiredly. "I'm fine."

I look around. The guards are all ready to fire, expecting a fight. One even has his finger just over his trigger. Nine turns to that one and nods, grinning. Looks like I'm not the only one that knows the chances of us losing. Even if it is about three to one.

"He's with us, old man," Six snarls. "He's our friend.

I look at Lawson. He looks perfectly calm, almost amused, by the situation. And people say Marines are crazy.

"Your friend," Lawson begins, "is a member of a hostile alien race that is bent on the subjugation of this planet. You brought him here, to the doorstep of humanity's best hope for resistance, and expected, what? That we would let him roam around free?"

"Pretty much," Nine nods.

"Don't you think it's a bit presumptuous to say you alone are humanity's best hope?" I smirk. "The Loric could very well have gone to Great Britain, or China, or Russia. Well, maybe not Russia, but you get the picture."

Everyone falls silent. Finally, John stands, moving slowly so that no one gets jumpy. Then, he looks around the room, the magazines dropping from every firearm in the room, rounds bouncing across the floor out of them before all of the guns rack themselves, rounds flying out of each chamber. I grin. John turns, walking around the table toward Adam and the guards.

"Step back," John says calmly.

They do. Way back.

John heats his hand to white hot instantly and melts through the chain binding Adam's hands instantly. Then, he turns on Lawson. Daniela and Sam look nervous. The humans, minus Sarah and myself, all look somewhere between angry and scared. Nine and Six are watching John with devilish encouragement. Agent Walker is hiding an amused smile behind her hand. Lawson looks completely calm.

"You could have just asked for the key," Lawson says calmly.

"We don't answer to you," John says, voice calm but not leaving any doubt as to whether or not he's serious. "You don't get to make decisions about us. Do you understand, sir?"

"I understand, and it won't happen again," Lawson says. "You need to understand, we had to be sure your...your friend, was on the level."

"And you need to understand that we're going after Setrákus as soon as my people are well enough," John says coldly. "We're going to kill him and bury him inside that mountain of his. How does that align with your plans for a counterattack?"

"Sounds pretty darn good," Lawson says, motioning for John to sit back down.

John gestures for Adam to take his seat and Adam does so. No one bothers to pick up their magazines as the rest of us sit back down. Probably wise.

"So what else is there to discuss?" John asks.

"While we support your assassination of the Mogadorian leadership wholeheartedly," Lawson says, "there are some timing issues that need to be ironed out, as well as some questions and concerns."

"Such as?" John asks.

"For example," Lawson says. "I know you recently used a sort of extrasensory perception to communicate with what is believed to be hundreds of LANEs around the world."

"What about it?" John asks.

"Well, John, these are minors you're recruiting from all around the world," Lawson says. "There are concerns for the safety of these children."

"There's going to be nowhere safe in the world, soon," John says. "They need training only we can give them."

"I get that," Lawson says. "But you understand why it could make some people nervous, don't you? You building an army from our young people?"

John shakes his head. I agree. Bureaucracy is bull crap. But necessary bull crap at the moment.

"We aren't building anything," John says. "You two, did I demand that you to come here? Did I force the others?"

They exchange a look, clearly not used to being spoken to directly. Though, oddly enough, one of the two remains stone faced.

"Speak freely," Lawson says.

"No," one speaks up, the other stone faced. "You didn't do anything like that. That one did call us wimps, though."

He points at Nine who shrugs, grinning.

"Satisfied?" John asks.

"For now," Lawson says. "At least give us a heads up if you're going to do anything like that again."

"You said something about timing concerns?" John sighs, deciding not to get into a discussion about how little heads up we had about it.

"Like I said, I'm all for you cutting the head off the snake," Lawson says motioning to the map behind himself. "Hell, I'll send as much backup as we can afford when you do. But right now, the enemy thinks we're belly up. When you strike, what happens to all those cities? Everyone's in evacuation mode right now, but it isn't easy moving millions of civilians. One strike on Setrákus Ra could open up battles on every front."

"As a survivor of the last invasion, allow me to tell you that they laid waste to our planet in hours," Lexa spoke up.

"Heartening," Lawson says sarcastically.

"They want to occupy the Earth, not blast it to uninhabitability," Lexa continues. "Doesn't knowing that give us some advantage?"

"Could Setrákus Ra be bluffing?" Lawson asks.

"It's true that my people want to occupy," Adam says. "In all likely hood, the fleet doesn't have the ability to make another intergalactic trip. They need to stay here. But if you think that somehow limits their willingness to destroy even dozens of cities, you underestimate them."

"Which brings us back to the doomsday countdown," Lawson says. "After you attack Ra, we have to assume the countdown ends and destruction begins."

"What happens when he recovers and realizes his deadline ran out while he was licking his wounds," Six says. "He'll attack anyway."

"Exactly," Lawson says. "The attacks are an inevitability either way. But that doesn't mean we want to hurry them up. We want to be as ready as we can be. Get as many civilians to safety as possible. Use every minute of this delay you've given us."

"You want to wait," John summarizes. "How long?"

"It isn't easy coordinating a counterstrike against a technologically superior enemy," Lawson says. "We've received the cloaking devices you sent and our science guys are working to reverse engineer them."

"I can help with that," Adam speaks up. "I know the tech fairly well."

"I appreciate that, Mr. Mog," Lawson says. "Even if we do crack the devices, and put them into production, we've still got to get this tech in the hands of our allies around the world. Now that we know what they look like, other countries, particularly India, have had some success knocking down skimmers during skirmishes and stripping out the cloaking devices for themselves. Assuming we get beyond the shields, we're still assessing whether we'd be better served attempting to board these warships or rely on ballistic missiles."

"Neither attempt will be easy," Adam says.

"Can't you just nuke them?" Nine asks.

"We'd ruin the planet and kill millions of innocents," I say.

"Bad enough to blow up one of those ships over a major city," Daniela says.

"One problem at a time," Lawson says. "Regardless of what approach we take, the cloaking devices remain our biggest hurdle. We're working with an incredibly small stockpile when we need one per ship, or one per missile. And then there's the small matter of getting them into the hands of our allies. How long will it take to have enough on hand to mount an attack the warships."

"All of them?" John asks. "At once?"

"That's how this operation plays out John," Lawson nods. "We hit them all at once to maximize our only advantage...the element of surprise. If we let them know we can break their shields too early, the parameters change. They might step up their attacks. Right now, they've got a boot on our necks; they think we're pinned, out of the fight. They don't know we've still got a knife up our sleeve. But we need that tech. And we're up against a ticking clock. Unless you know how long Setrákus Ra will be in this vat of his?"

He looks to Ella, and she shakes her head.

"Then you understand how precarious our situation is," Lawson says. "We'll likely get one shot at this, and it needs to be soon."

"There are Loralite stones growing all over the world, right?" Six asks Ella.

"Yes, I can sense them," Ella nods.

"There you go," Six says. "We can use those to deliver the devices around the world."

"These are the stones you mentioned to the LANEs in your, uh...psychic briefing, right?" Lawson asks.

John nods and Lawson glances at the map.

"Once we caught wind of those, we encouraged our international partners to lock down as many as they could find."

"You did?" John asks, cocking his head, not pleased.

"Yes, John, of course we did," Lawson says, sounding as though it were the most obvious thing in the world. "That said, some leaders have outright laughed at me when I told them to divert resources to guarding some magical rocks. Not to mention that we only know the locations of a fraction of the Loralite growths."

"How many human Garde have been intercepted?" John asks coldly.

"A few," Lawson replies cautiously. "For their own protection. Most of them are still overseas. Maybe if we survive the next few days, we could discuss how you'll train them, with proper supervision of course."

"Oh typical," I snort. "There's going to be super power training. Let's have the not-at-all-corrupt US Government watch and take notes. While we're at it, lets arrest a few dozen super-powered kids for trying to go to that training just because the cameras aren't up yet. You know what, while we're at it, here's a paper, please list all the locations of Loralite Stones so that we don't miss anyone."

The room is silent. The humans all look more than a little displeased by my outburst. Our end of the table agrees.

"We'll help you locate the rest of the Loralite," John finally says. "Once we're ready to move the cloaking devices."

Lawson nods, smiling warmly. "That's transport squared away. That still doesn't solve the problem of quantity."

"If we can't make them quickly enough, we'll just have to get you more," John says, and I can see a plan forming in his head.

"Maybe we should go somewhere they'll have a lot of them," Nine grins.

"And where's that?" Lawson asks.

"One of their warships," John says.

"Didn't I just explain..." Lawson trails off, suppressing his frustration. "If we attack them, any attack, we risk them laying waste to one of our cities."

"What if we could get in and out without them even noticing?" John asks Lawson, staring at Six who grins and nods. "What if we could get you a battalions' worth of cloaking devices before the Mogs even notice they're missing?"

"That...That I could live with," Lawson nods.

"Good," John nods. "We'll start getting ready immediately."

Lawson nods and dismisses the humans, who all grab their ammo and hurry out. The rest of us follow.

* * *

Read and review.


	37. Chapter 37

I do not own Lorien Legacies or any of the characters.

* * *

Awake

I walk into the armory and Hawkeye glances at me before pulling a Tavor off the wall and tossing it to me. I catch it and grin. After the meeting, John had gone with Adam to see some project and I had gone to ask where to find the armory. Then Ella had telepathically rounded most of us up to watch a video on Youtube of the British kid from the telepathic conference at Niagara Falls, waiting for us to pick him up. Six had left with Sam, Daniela, and Ella to get them, leaving the rest of us behind. John and Nine went to do something or other, and I decided to go see a couple of friends.

"How much ammo you want this time?" Hawkeye asks.

"Just two mags," I say. "And one empty one."

"Why?" Rookie asks, passing me the mags.

"Because the gun looks cooler with one in," I say. "Even if I'm not using actual bullets."

"How would you not be using actual bullets?"

I grin and levitate the three mags. Both stare at me in shock then groan.

"Of course Marina's boyfriend gets powers," Hawkeye complains. "I want to throw stuff around with my mind. So what, you're going to shoot balls of compressed Telekinetic energy out of the gun?"

"Pretty much," I nod. "Gotta practice it though. Got a shooting range?"

Hawkeye opens a door and reveals a range on the other side. Well, actually there's a long hallway with a stuffed dummy a distance away.

"What's on the other side of the far wall?" I ask.

"Just dirt," Rookie says. "The range is away from the rest of the base."

I nod, raising the rifle and focusing. My head hurts instantly but I form a force field shaped like an elongated bullet in the rifle's chamber. I sight in on the target and try to launch the force field with telekinesis but the forcefield drops to the floor almost as soon as leaving the barrel, shattering on the ground.

"Wow," Hawkeye grins. "Lethal."

"Shut up," I grumble sighting in again.

This time, I pull the rifle's trigger. When the firing pin strikes the force field, the repulsion energy it's charged with blasts it out of the rifle's barrel, sending it completely through the dummy. We hear a resounding crack after about a second and I lower the rifle, blinking in surprise.

"Wow," Rookie says. "Lethal."

Hawkeye rolls his eyes and we walk down the hallway, past the dummy to the far wall. The force field had drilled into the wall, roughly a thousand meters from where I shot it. It made it about three feet into the solid concrete wall before stopping, leaving an empty tunnel. Hawkeye whistles. Impressed.

"Alright," Hawkeye nods. "I admit. Not bad. Thing's got some power."

"Kicks a little less than a normal round too," I grin looking down at the rifle, where the bolt was locked to the rear, the force field having cycled the weapon when it fired. "I'm going to need to modify that magazine."

I take it out, grabbing a file and quickly filing down the bolt catch and the false bullet on the follower. I rack the weapon back and watch it go home smoothly then grin, slinging it. I step back up to the range and hold my hand out, two fingers extended in a pretend pistol. I form a force field around the tips of my two fingers with a thin strip reaching back along my index finger. Then, I put my thumb down to simulate a hammer falling, touching my thumb to the strip leading back along my finger. The force field launches off my hand, making my hand pull up like a pistol recoil. Once again, the shot makes it to the wall. We go to check on it but it didn't get quite as far. Left a bigger hole though.

"I don't think you need the Tavor," Hawkeye says as we walk back.

"I'm taking it in case I'm too weak to use my Legacies," I say. "Anyway, I gotta go. I'm going to go see if Marina's up."

Hawkeye grins and nods and I walk to the door then stop.

"By the way, you know you're not really working for Lawson, right?"

"Oh, we know," Rookie nods. "But we figured, someone has to take care of these."

"Fair enough," I nod. "You guys got my sword in here?"

"Yeah, you want it?" Hawkeye asks.

"Not right now," I say. "I'll come get it later."

Hawkeye nods and I leave, headed for the infirmary. I take the elevator and as soon as I step out, I hear running from one direction and Five's voice from up ahead. I sigh. This can't be good. Five was supposed to be in some padded room, according to John just after the meeting. Just as I step around a corner, I spot a very free, and very naked Five standing at the door to the infirmary with John in front of him, holding his hands up to tel what I can only assume is Five, not to kill Five. Something about a misunderstanding. I don't really listen because as John's talking, an icicle forms in front of Five's good eye.

"What did I tell you, Five?" Marina snarls from a little ways behind Five. "What did I say would happen if I ever saw you again?"

"Marina, I need you to calm down," John says.

"You want me to calm down?" Marina growls. "I wake up, can barley remember anything about where I am, and this...this bastard is the first thing I see!"

I hold a hand out, creating a force field in front of Five's eye, shielding it from the icicle. Marina growls in annoyance and lets the icicle drop to the ground, shattering. I let the force field fade, shaking my head to clear the headache, and walk over as Five cowers behind John.

"Good morning Marina," I say, walking over to stand in front of her.

"Why are you protecting him?" Marina asks.

"Because he's our prisoner," I say, looking to John.

"He was just helping me with something," John says. "He's heading back to his room now, right?"

"Yes," Five says, voice small.

Then, he turns, walking toward Nine and a dozen or so Marines.

"I'm sorry," Marina sighs, forming a second icicle, breaking the tip off and pressing it to her forehead. "It was just really confusing waking up to his voice. Where are we anyway?"

"We're in a secret military base outside of Detroit," I say as John turns and walks away, deciding to give us privacy. "What can you remember?"

"I remember Setrákus slamming me against the ground," Marina says. "And I remember him coming to me in a dream, trying to get me to let go."

"He did what?" I blink.

"Before I was healed, I had a dream I was standing on a precipice," Marina says sitting down on her bed beside me. "Part of me wanted to let myself fall but I didn't. Then, Setrákus showed up, pretending to be Eight, telling me to jump. Telling me I could be with Eight if I jumped. But, then I heard you. Asking me to stay. After the dream, the last thing I remember is..."

"What?" I ask.

"I remember you kissing me," Marina says, blushing. "But, I can't remember if it was real or another dream. I was out of it, if it was real."

I smile and kiss her. She sighs, kissing me back and wrapping her arms around my neck After a few moments, I pull away and smile.

"Definitely wasn't a dream," I smile. "So, you swear now?"

"Only about Five," Marina snorts. "It just slipped out."

"It's alright," I laugh. "I swore like a...well, I swore really bad, the entire time I was a Marine."

"When did you stop?" Marina asks.

"When I got a second chance at life," I say. "The first time, at least."

Marina looks at me confused until what I mean clicks.

"You mean...when you met me?" Marina asks.

I nod and she smiles, resting her head against my shoulder.

"That was a fun day," Marina smiles.

"Oh tons," I snort. "My helicopter crashes, I get fatally wounded and my legs get turned to pudding, and then I get to feel the worst pain imaginable as some strange alien girl heals me."

Marina laughs. Then, she grins up at me.

"So, barriers huh?" Marina asks.

"And Telekinesis strong enough to catch you and throw Setrákus Ra," I grin. "That's about it so far."

Marina grins and nods.

"If you could have any other Legacy, but only one more, what would it be?" Marina asks.

"Definitely be a teleporter," I snort. "It was so cool. When I wasn't being thrown partway through."

Marina laughs and nods.

"Yeah, you and Eight never did have much luck teleporting together," Marina laughs. "Did anyone else..."

"No," I smile. "Sarah came close, but I was able to use my force fields to keep her alive until John healed her. Shouldn't actually be using my Legacies right now cause I'm supposed to be resting, but I figure, the best way to get sore muscles to recover is exercise, so maybe Legacies are the same. As long as it's in small doses."

Marina smiles and rolls her eyes.

"So where's everyone else?" Marina asks.

"Six, Ella, Sam, and a new Garde names Daniela left to pick up a few more at Niagara falls. Adam is currently working on something or other, Hawkeye and Rookie are in the armory working, and I don't know where Sarah and Mark are. I actually haven't seen Mark since we got here."

Marina nods then yawns.

"What are you still tired?" I laugh.

"A little," Marina says. "I hope you don't expect me to stay in the infirmary."

"Of course not," I laugh. "The rooms are a couple floors down."

Marina nods standing and taking a bite out of her icicle.

"Can I have a piece of your snack?" I ask.

She breaks a piece off, handing it to me and I break it in half, holding the two pieces to my temples.

"Maybe you should give your Legacies a rest," Marina grins as I lead her to the elevator.

"Oh hush," I snort. "I will. Eventually."

Marina laughs and leans on my side as I start to eat the icicle pieces, wrapping an arm around her. A few minutes later, I'm leading her down a hallway where the rooms are. I had picked out a room for myself after the meeting when Sarah gave me the grand tour of the horribly decorated rooms. I tell Marina who's sleeping in which then stop at mine.

"So, you have your pick of these three," I say, indicating the last three doors in this hallway. "They're all decorated the same, have the same seventies style clothing that always looks awful, and are all actually pretty comfortable. Once the dust is gone, at least."

"How come you don't want me staying with you?" Marina asks, hands on her hips. "Getting late-night visits from Daniela?"

"First off, I never said I didn't want you staying with me," I say. "I just wasn't going to assume anything. Second, no, I'm not getting any late night visits from Daniela. She's not my type and it would be pretty awkward to have sex right next to my new girlfriend's infirmary bed."

"You slept next to my bed?" Marina asks, avoiding the rest of the topic.

"Of course," I smile. "I was terrified when you were hurt. So of course I stayed with you."

Marina smiles, and I open the door to our room. Inside, it's just like every other room in the base, more or less. There's a TV that only plays static, a VCR, a painting of a scene outside a window, ugly wall paper, and the dresser has male clothing and female clothing in separate drawers, all of it seventies style. I pull out a few of the outfits and lay them out to see how they look and Marina laughs.

"Oh you are going to be very hot in those," Marina laughs, rolling around on the queen-sized bed.

"Oh don't even start," I grumble, putting the clothes away, gagging dramatically.

Then, I pull her drawer open and it's my turn to laugh, falling backward onto the bed.

She crawls over, peering into the drawer and begins to laugh as well, holding her hand up and floating a complete outfit consisting of a rainbow, spiral and flower print dress that would reach somewhere around her knees, a rainbow headband, a brown leather vest with six inch tassels hanging from every seam, and a pair of shin warmers with even longer tassels. On the floor was one pair of shiny brown shoes and one pair of rainbow high heels. Marina turns the outfit around and I begin to cheer and clap before cackling with laughter. On the back of the vest, is a big bright green peace sign.

"Oh that is going to be priceless!" I laugh.

"I am so not wearing that," Marina laughs, putting it away. "There's normalish clothes in here too. Bellbottom pants and a lot of rainbow tee-shirts."

"Oh no," I laugh. "You're wearing the hippie costume."

Marina smirks and rolls her eyes, closing the drawer. A moment later, there's a knock on the door.

"Everything alright in there?" Sarah asks through the door. "That's a lot of laughing."

"We're just admiring Marina's outfit for tomorrow," I reply.

"Oh I'm sure it's gorgeous," Sarah replies. "Judging by my own selection, I'm sure it's something truly spectacular."

"Just wait," I laugh. "You'll love it."

Sarah laughs and leaves and Marina glares at me.

"I'm so not wearing that," Marina says.

I laugh and kiss her then flop backward onto the bed, sighing then covering my mouth on a yawn. Marina yawns as well and lays down with her head on my shoulder. I'm still grinning and I know she is too. However, after about thirty seconds, we're both out cold.

* * *

Read and review.


	38. Chapter 38

I do not own Lorien Legacies or any of the characters.

* * *

Dreams

I open my eyes and my mouth falls open. I'm back on the John Hancock Center, except that this time, the destruction around me is real. The city got hit hard, and Mogadorians patrol in the streets.

"We can still fix this," Marina's voice says from behind me.

I turn, seeing her standing a little behind me. I instantly can tell something's off. Something about her eyes.

"It's not too late," she says.

"Hello Setrákus Ra," I growl.

Marina freezes then glares at me before convulsing violently and growing back into Setrákus. He grows to twenty feet, picking me up and roaring angrily in my face.

"Very good, boy," Setrákus snarls. "Tell me, did she survive?"

"Yes," I say. "She did, as a matter of fact. She sends a message too. Go to hell."

I shove with my Telekinesis for all I'm worth but Setrákus stays put. I growl in annoyance and try again. This time, the tower trembles from the force, but still Setrákus doesn't budge.

"You're powerful," Setrákus sneers. "But now that I'm not caught off guard, I won't be overpowered by you again. Tell me, do you believe your curse is finished now that you have Legacies? Now that she's nearly died and lived? You're very mistaken. But if you believe it is, I invite you to go to the Bermuda Triangle. After all, one cursed thing meeting another is rather fitting, isn't it?"

"Why would I go there?" I growl.

Setrákus Ra snaps the fingers of his free hand and suddenly we're over the water, Setrákus Ra standing on it as though it were solid. Behind him, I watch as skimmers fly over. They have cables attached to what looks like a gigantic egg. Then, the cables detach and the egg splashes down in the water. The skimmers swing around, flying away just as the water vibrates, a roar echoing out of it.

"I created two masterpieces," Setrákus Ra growls. "One was designed to hunt the Garde, and was turned to stone on that island by Number Four. This is the other. And it is designed specifically for you and your girlfriend."

"Then I wish it luck," I snarl. "Now, get out of my head."

Setrákus Ra laughs before I sit bolt upright in my room. It's a mess. It looks like a bomb went off in it, or two telekinetic pulses. I swallow hard, wiping cold sweat off my head and turn to Marina, who looks worried. There's a cut above her eyebrow and a bruise on her cheek but she looks alright aside from that. Still though. That was entirely my fault.

"Oh God, I'm so sorry," I whisper.

"It's alright," Marina says, quickly healing herself. "Are you alright? I tried to wake you up but your telekinesis flared up when I did."

"I think I'm okay," I nod. "Setrákus Ra just visited me. He dared me to go track down some monster in the Bermuda Triangle."

Marina stares at me and I shrug, shaking my head. Then, I begin to use telekinesis to fix the room. My Legacies seem to have recovered, judging by the face that I don't get a headache this time, and after about a minute everything's back in place, though the bedside lamp is shattered and the TV has a crack in it. Suddenly there's a knock at the door.

"James?" John calls out. "Marina? What was all that noise? Everything alright?"

I get out of bed, walking over and opening the door. John is staring at me, looking worried so I invite him in. He notices the damage to the TV and the lamp but doesn't ask. Not that he has to. In a couple of short sentences, I describe my dream to him and Marina, both of whom are silent. I wait for one of them to speak and finally John does.

"He's trying to pull some trick," John says finally.

"Well obviously," I snort. "They'll probably try to follow me back. But if there really is something there, can we afford to leave it alive?"

"No," John sighs. "No we can't."

"What do we do?" I ask.

"We'll have to go soon," John sighs. "Maybe while we attack the warship."

"I could go as soon as the others get back," I say. "I'm ready. All I have to do is grab my sword."

"I don't like it," John says. "There's something up."

"Setrákus Ra claims that he, or rather, the Mogadorians are behind my curse," I say and John's eyes widen. "He said in the dream that this has something to do with my curse, with proving to me that it's still around."

"Why?" John asks. "It makes no sense to pester one human and kill the people he loves for so long. And why would he be so fixated on you?"

"I don't think they have," I say. "I think it's just him trying to get into my head. But even so, I want to find out the truth, and whatever he dropped off there can't be allowed to live."

"I agree," John nods. "Alright. When the others get back, have Lexa fly you out."

"I'm going too," Marina speaks up. "Whatever this thing is, you're not fighting it alone. I'm the only one who can breathe underwater and you said it was in the middle of the ocean."

"Alright," I nod.

"They'll be back soon," John says. "Go get whatever you need."

I nod and John leaves for the garage at the bottom of the base. I turn to Marina who gives me a knowing look.

"I'll be fine," she promises. "If all else fails I'll just freeze everything."

I sigh and nod then stand, stretching.

"Well, guess I should go get my sword then huh?"

Marina nods and I grab my Tavor, leaving the two magazines with bullets behind, then head to the armory. Hawkeye looks up and instantly goes to the back, bringing out my sword.

"You leaving?" Hawkeye asks.

"Yeah," I nod. "I got some stuff I gotta take care of. I should be back by morning."

Rookie snorts.

"Careful," Rookie laughs. "The last time someone made plans to be back soon, Mexico happened. Before that Florida."

"Don't jinx me Rookie," I grumble. "Marina's coming with me."

"It'll be fine," Hawkeye says. "See you when you get back from your honeymoon."

I roll my eyes and shake my head.

"Don't get yourselves killed somehow while I'm out," I grin.

They both flip me off so I laugh and leave the armory, heading down to the garage where Lexa is just pulling in and Marina is waiting for me.

"Ready?" she asks.

"You not bringing anything?" I ask.

"No," she says. "I create weapons out of ice so I don't need a gun or a sword."

"Lucky," I snort. "I can only create bullets with my mind. I still have to actually use the gun like normal though."

She smiles and shakes her head.

"That's still incredible," she says as we walk toward the ship. "Just think, a couple days ago you were a boring old human."

I snort in amusement as we reach John, stopping to wait as Six walks out of the ship, followed by the others. Among them are the four new human Garde that were at Niagara Falls. One is the British kid, obviously, along with Bertrand the beekeeper, a blonde girl who I think was named Fleur, and a frail-looking Japanese girl. I think the video said her name was Ran.

Marina and John go to the human Garde instantly, beginning to heal their wounds, Bertrand flat-out refusing to allow Marina heal his, as all of his were in his back and butt. While they work, I walk over to Lexa.

"Where are we going this time?" Lexa sighs.

"Bermuda Triangle," I say. "Setrákus Ra dropped something off there that we can't allow to live. Not sure what it is, but it looked like a big egg."

Lexa nods and walks back onto the ship. I lean against the door, waiting for Marina. She briefly explains to Six where we're going when Six asks and then heads up the ramp to stand beside me.

"Here goes," she sighs.

I nod, stepping out of the way and Lexa pulls the ramp in, closing the door and flying back out of the base. We fly through a tunnel at first, then out into the open air, speeding up until we're streaking along faster than any plane the Earth has, except maybe a fighter jet. Maybe. I sit down in the copilot seat and stare out the window.

"How long will it take to get there?" I ask.

"A couple hours," she sighs. "It'll probably be dark."

I nod and lean back, sighing.

"You're going to sleep?" she asks, smirking.

"Well yeah," I snort. "How else do you expect me to pass the time?"

she laughs and shakes her head. I glance back at Marina but she's already asleep too. I close my eyes and soon, I've drifted off.

* * *

Read and review.


	39. Chapter 39

I do not own Lorien Legacies or any of the characters.

* * *

Cursed

Lexa hovers over the water. This is the exact spot where Setrákus Ra dropped the egg, or at least, that's what we're assuming. We figure if the thing is really supposed to find me, it'll know I'm here. After a few minutes of nothing happening, I get bored. It's almost dark and I'd like to be done with whatever's going on while I can still see.

"See anything?" I ask Marina as we peer out through the door.

"No," She says, shaking her head. "Maybe we're in the wrong spot? Or Setrákus could just be yanking your chain."

"I don't know," I think. Maybe we should jump in."

"That seems like an exceptionally bad idea," Lexa says.

"We'll have to get in the water to fight it anyway," I point out.

"True," Marina nods. "Alright. Let's do it. You should probably leave the rifle though."

I nod and unsling it, walking over to the opposite side, setting it against the wall.

"I have a feeling this is going to be a pain in the neck," I say turning around.

"Probably," Marina nods as I walk back over.

Just as I look down again, a pair of glowing red eyes open in the water. I stagger back a step just as a massive tentacle shoots out of the water, wrapping around Marina and yanking her off the ship.

"Marina!" I shout.

"James wait!" Lexa shouts, making me pause. "I've got my sensors on her. I can't read the creature, whatever it is, but I can see her. She's too far down. A hundred meters. You can't get to her James. You can't breathe under water. You have to trust her to deal with it."

"Go screw yourself," I snap, dropping my sword and diving off the ship.

I swim downward as fast as I can, pushing myself along with Telekinesis. The water darkens fast. Soon, I can't see my hand in front of my face. Then, a flickering light appears in front of me. Not close. It's way, way down. As I descend, my lungs begin to scream for air, and pressure begins to squeeze me. I grit my teeth, pushing myself harder. My entire body hurts. The pressure is worst in my head, making my head feel like it's going to pop, which it actually might. Then, suddenly, an icicle shoots past me. I begin to panic, pushing myself faster. I block out the feeling of being crushed. I push out my need to breathe. I create a force field under my feet like a platform and then send it rocketing down through the water, pushing me. Fast. too fast to feel the pressure, apparently. I rocket through the water, getting steadily closer to the lights. I squint. I can almost make out tentacles thrashing around in the water.

I get closer. A tentacle suddenly shoots up out of the murky water at me. I dive off of my force field and the tentacle smashes through it. Before I can react, the tentacle swings around, flicking me in the stomach and sending me shooting backward. I cough on impact, can't help it. The thing hits my diaphragm. Then, just as much on instinct, gasp, trying to recover my breath. Suddenly, a strange sort of calm floods through me. A cold sensation spreads through my skin. I'm not drowning. I inhale. Then, I grin. I can breathe. Looks like Eight is looking out for me after all. I begin to swim down again, suddenly aware that I can see my hands. More than that, I can see the creature. It's a lot uglier than I expected. It's got a eel's tail attached to something of a half-way humanoid, if deformed, torso, then a massive neck almost as thick as its torso attached to its pointed head. Its mouth is filled with gigantic pointed teeth, its two main arms turn into tentacles after the elbow, a second set of arms below those are slightly smaller and turn into scythe-shaped blades at the wrists. Out of its sides and back are numerous tentacles with smaller ones branching off of them partway along, forming what may be deformed arms. The thing is, technically, supposed to be an infant, but it looks pretty grown, considering the entire thing is probably about the size of the Patience Creek Bed & Breakfast, the log cabin on top of our new secret base. Along its body at seemingly random intervals, there are spots, circles glowing with the same light as Ella's eyes. Loric Energy.

I can see Marina in one of the tentacles. She's shooting icicles at the thing but it's waving her around too much for her to hit it. Most of her icicles are going downward or sideways now, but for whatever reason, she's not freezing the thing. Maybe she can't.

I swim down as fast as I can, and look past the creature, toward where it's heading. A reef on the floor of the ocean. All around the reef are sunken ships and planes. And there are more than a few strange types of fish swimming around, though they are probably as native to the Earth as I am. God only knows what exists on the ocean floor this deep. I create a paper-thin force field disk and send it shooting through the water, steering it with my telekinesis. It streaks through the water in a blur, then slices through the tentacle holding Marina, freeing her. She instantly begins swimming up toward me as the monster roars, spinning around.

Marina reaches me and I hold out my hands, generating a force field bullet on each of my finger guns. Then, I begin to fire and recreate the force fields as fast as I can. The force fields tear through the creature rapidly, drilling completely through it again and again as it roars in rage, the water vibrating around me. Then, out of nowhere, a tentacle shoots at me from the side, smashing me downward, into the reef. I grunt in pain, pushing myself up as the creature shoots toward Marina again as Marina swims down toward me. She begins to fire icicles at the thing as fast as she can, but the monster barely seems to feel them as they stab into it. I use a force field to break off a piece of reef then send it at the creature as fast as I can, not overly impressive underwater, but it's still enough to distract the creature. Marina lands on the reef beside me and I hold out my hands, making finger guns again. I glance over at her then back up at the creature. Then, I begin to fire. For a moment, the creature uses its arms to try and shield itself. Then, it shoots sideways, then down at us. I growl in annoyance, holding my hand out to my side and a force field in the shape of a very large spear forms over it. Then, I send the spear rocketing through the water at the creature. It drills through the creature's left shoulder, completely removing its lower left arm and then the Eel tail. The creature shrieks in rage, the sound actually carrying through the water. Then, its tentacles all flash out, grabbing me and Marina. I can't move my arms enough to fire any force field bullets at it and I haven't gotten the hang of using my Legacies without my hands yet. Marina manages to form an icicle and send it into the creature's face but it simply roars.

I struggle, leaning side to side, trying to work one of my hands out of the tentacle's grip. Marina's getting dangerously close to its face now, and I'll be damned if I let some freaky fish eat her. Marina thrashes violently against her own tentacle, also knowing what's about to happen. She looks back at me, terror clear in her eyes. Then, just as the creature opens its mouth, my hand is free. Instantly, I begin to fire force field bullets down the creature's throat. Thick black blood sprays out of its mouth and the back of its head. It shrieks in pain, releasing both of us and I pull Marina to me with my Telekinesis. The creature shoots away from us, up higher into the water. I use Telekinesis to lower us to the reef again and we both slip through a hole in it, taking cover inside.

I wish I could speak, but when I try my words are distorted to bad for even me to understand. I sit back against the wall, watching out through the hole as the creature swims in a circle, moving lower and lower as it does. It'll be back soon, and I'm getting the feeling it heals every time Marina or I wound it. Suddenly, Marina is sitting in front of me. She holds her hands out and letters begin to form out of ice.

"I C-A-N N-O-T F-R-E-E-Z-E I-T," Marina spells out.

I nod.

"H-O-W B-I-G- A F-O-R-C-E F-I-E-L-D C-A-N Y-O-U M-A-K-E," Marina spells.

I shrug, then hold my hands apart to sign "pretty big", which I hope is true.

"M-A-B-E- Y-O-U C-O-U-L-D S-H-R-E-D I-T," Marina signs.

That had actually occurred to me already, but before I could try it, the thing had grabbed us. I nod then point at her and then down. She nods and I swim out through the hole, looking around. The creature's gone. Crap. Without warning, tentacles shoot out of the sand off to one side, wrapping around me as the creature rises out of the sand. I manage to twist my hand so the palm is outward and a force field spike erupts from the tentacle, growing off my palm. The tentacle retracts instantly, and I hold out my hand. A dozen or so massive force field disks form in the water around me and I thrust my hand forward, the disks shooting toward the creature. It tries to block them with its tentacles and they're removed instantly. The disks tear through the creature one after another, but once they do, the wounds begin to seal up. I finally growl in annoyance, growing tired of the creature and aim my next disk for its neck. The creature's head separates from its body, a cloud of black blood surrounding the creature. Then, tentacles, completely restored, shoot out of the blood at me. I hold out my hands, force field lances shooting out of my palms and shredding the tentacles as they approach, but it's not easy on my.

Already my head's beginning to hurt. Finally I stop, swimming downward only for a tentacle to grab my leg, swinging me around and around. Even being able to breath underwater, I can't breath moving so fast. I fire a force field bullet at the creature out of desperation and it shrieks in pain, recoiling and releasing me. When I look at it again, I see why. The Loric energy on its body is chunks of Loralite. My most recent shot hit one. An icicle crashes into another and the chunk shatters along with the icicle, the creature shrieking in pain again. I grin. So that's it then. Just have to break the Loralite. Only six spots left. I hold my hands out, shooting four as Marina smashes the remaining two with icicles. The creature roars in pain, tentacles whipping round and round. Then, it lunges at Marina. Before it can reach her, I take its head off again with a force field disk. This time, its head sinks down from the bottom of the blood cloud, followed by its body. Marina swims over to me, hugging me, then turns back toward it as the blood cloud begins to thin.

I sigh in relief, admiring the gigantic corpse on the bottom of the sea. However, just as I look back up at the loud of blood, a massive shark, easily fifty feet long bursts out of it, jaws open wide, headed straight for me. Before it reaches me, Marina crashes into me, using her Telekinesis to tackle me out of the way. The jaws snap closed so hard I can hear it, then the shark is past, swinging around for another go. Unfortunately for it, I don't have the patience for another protracted underwater fight. I hold my hand above my head, forming a disk and growing it until it's more than wide enough to bisect the shark. This one isn't mutated by the Mogadorians. It's just your average, never-before-seen Megalodon shark. Which I'm about to make extinct. Just as its jaws open, I send the disk at it, splitting it in half from tip to tail, the two halves passing above and below me and Marina. I sigh, turning to her, and I go cold. She's pale, blood leaking out of her right arm about halfway down the bicep, where the rest has been bitten off. Marina reaches over, healing the stump, but instead of regrowing her arm, it simply closes the stump. I form a force field below us, sending us rocketing upward. Marina's barely conscious, leaning against me and I hear snapping jaws below us. I look down. Two gigantic frill sharks and a massive great white are following us. I don't know why we're suddenly so popular, but I'm already sick of it. I stomp my foot and several lances shoot out of the bottom of my force field, impaling the sharks and killing them. Then, we reach the surface, exploding out of the water and hovering there, looking around. Lexa's a little ways away.

"Marina, your...your arm," I begin as my force field floats toward the ship.

"Better that than my head," Marina says tiredly.

"Could you reattach it if I got the rest?" I ask.

She shakes her head.

"Even when it was an open wound, I can't reattach limbs," she says. "Besides, everything between here and the elbow would have been shredded too bad to work with anyway."

"I shouldn't have let you come," I whisper. "Setrákus was right. I am still cursed."

"No!" Marina snaps. "Don't you dare start with that! You're not allowed. If you want to blame something, blame Setrákus Ra for making us come out here to deal with that thing in the first place."

"But..." I trail off as she glares at me.

Then, I sigh and nod. She leans her head against me, sighing.

"I don't care about my arm," Marina says. "As long as I still have you."

I feel my eyes start to water and wrap my arms around her, my force field depositing us on the floor of the ship as the door closes and Lexa starts home. I sit down in a chair, Marina in my lap with her head on my shoulder. Lexa looks back and her mouth falls open.

"Jesus!" Lexa gasps. "What happened?"

"Shark," I say. "We killed Setrákus Ra's creation without a scratch. But a normal shark..."

Lexa turns back around, deciding to not make me talk about it. I clearly don't want to, and Marina is asleep on my shoulder.

* * *

Read and review.


	40. Chapter 40

I do not own Lorien Legacies or any of the characters.

* * *

Restoration

I sit down on the bed, watching as Marina stares at her reflection in the mirror. So far, she's done alright with one arm, assisted by her Telekinesis. However, she's having trouble adjusting. I can see it in her eyes, even when she smiles and tells me she's fine. Finally she turns to me, forcing a smile.

"I'm kind of hungry," she says.

"Alright," I smile. "Let's go make ourselves some food."

She smiles and nods, turning and leaving the room. I follow close behind her, closing the door as I leave the room, then walking beside her through the base, holding her remaining hand. When we reach the elevator, she slips her hand out of mine, pushing the button for the floor with the kitchen on it. Then, she pushes the button to close the doors and leans against me. It's late, and we should be asleep, but we just got back a little while ago and Marina keeps insisting she's not tired. When the doors open, we walk through the deserted halls to the kitchen, where the selection for late-night snack is fairly limited. Unlike at Nine's penthouse, our options here are either microwave burritos or a bowl of stale cereal. Marina pulls down the box of burritos and begins to try and open them. However, with one arm, she can't hold the box still long enough to get it open. After a moment, the box tips over and flips off the counter, landing on the floor. Marina sighs in frustration and floats it back up with Telekinesis.

She set the box on the counter again and again tries to open it. This time, she gets her finger hooked under the tab then pulls. The box slips off the counter again and the side splits open as it falls. Frozen burritos bounce and roll across the floor. Marina stomps her foot angrily then leans back against the counter, putting her hand to her face. I float the box and burritos back up to the counter, setting them down then walk over, wrapping my arms around her.

"It's alright," I whisper. "You'll get the hang of it. Besides, if you really wanted to, you could just use your telekinesis."

"But I don't want to," she says. "I want my arm back. I want to be able to do things without my Telekinesis."

"This is only the first thing you've tried to do that you can't," I point out.

Marina leans against me, burying her face in my shoulder. I sigh, wrapping my arms around her.

"It's going to be alright, Marina," I sigh. "There's even a burrito still in the box."

"Great," she sighs. "I get to have a frozen burrito. Again."

I smile, putting it in the microwave and turn it on. While I do, Marina goes to wash her hand and I hear an angry groan. I walk over, putting soap on my hand then rub them together before rubbing the soap onto Marina's hand as well. We rinse our hands off and she passes me the towel, knowing she won't be able to dry her own hand. I dry mine and then hers and hang the towel back up. The microwave beeps so I open it and take the burrito out, passing it to Marina. She sets it on a plate, picking up a knife and trying to cut it. Except, every time she does, the burrito slips around on the plate. Finally, the plate flips as she presses down too close to the edge and the burrito drops off. I catch it with Telekinesis before it can hit the ground and set it back on the plate, but Marina's had just about enough. She's practically in tears. I step forward, wrapping my arms around her, taking her hand in mine and making her pick up the knife.

"Practice," I say. "It takes some getting used to."

I guide her hand to the burrito and stab the knife down into the burrito then begin to move the knife up and down from inside.

"How do you know how to cut things with one hand?" Marina asks, confused.

"I used to talk on the phone a lot," I smile. "Way back before the Marine Corps."

She snorts in amusement and I let go of her hand, wrapping my arms around her. She tries on her own and struggles a little, but eventually manages to cut the burrito in half. Once done, she holds half of it out to me. I smile, taking it from her and taking a bit out of it while she eats her half. As we eat, her face slowly sinks as she stares at her right arm. Finally, we finish and I slip my hand into hers. We head back to our room and I sit on the bed.

"I'm going to try to take a shower," she says. "I still have to be able to do that."

I nod and kiss her then watch her walk into the bathroom that is attached to our room, about the only good thing about it. I lay back on the bed, laying on my side with my back to the door and close my eyes. After a while of her not asking me to come put shampoo in her hair for her, the shower turns off.

"I'm coming out," she warns.

"Go ahead," I reply.

The door opens and then one of the drawers. I hear her sigh as she sees what she has to choose from, then hear her grunt in effort before grumbling in annoyance. She sits on the bed after a moment then stands again. After a moment of not hearing anything, I hear her groan in annoyance again but this time, her voice breaks and her breath hitches. I carefully look back, hearing her make a noise of complaint again, sounding halfway between a sob and a growl. She's reaching behind herself, trying to hook her bra, but can't reach the strap on the right side.

After another moment of seeing her struggle, I slide over and stand behind her, taking her hand away from the straps, moving it down to her side. I wrap my arms around her waist, gently kissing the back of her neck as she leans back into me, crying.

"I hate this," she says. "I hate being a cripple. I just want to feel normal again. I don't want to have to depend on you to do everything. I can't even get dressed!"

"Marina, it's alright," I smile. "You can depend on me as much as you want. I don't mind."

I rest my chin on her shoulder squeezing her. She leans her head back against me.

"No," she says. "I can't do anything for myself. I can't even wash my own hand."

I sigh, seeing just how much it's troubling her. Marina doesn't break down often. I can't imagine how she must feel. I lean back, trailing my hands up her side then back to the straps, hooking them before my hands move up to her head, pulling her hair back. It's grown long again, reaching a little past her shoulders now. I comb my fingers through it for a minute, before my hands mover to her shoulders.

"Marina, you know I'm always going to be here when you need me," I promise. "Whether it's as a Mogadorian blaster magnet or to help wash your hand."

She smiles, in spite of herself.

"I know," she smiles. "But I feel so...I can't live like this, James. I can't. I know I'm still lucky compared to a normal cripple because of my Telekinesis, but I can't take this."

I rest my chin on her shoulder again and she leans hers against mine as my hands begin to slide down her arms. My left moves faster, reaching her hand in mere seconds, but my right takes its time. Marina's eyes close as she tries to steady her breathing, and I let mine close too. I can practically feel Marina's pain. I hate myself for letting her be hurt. And I want nothing more than to make her whole again. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I feel a tingling sensation, almost like when you stand up too fast and not enough blood is going to your brain, only on a much smaller scale. Suddenly, my right hand feels an elbow. But that can't be right, her arm is missing above that. I open my eyes and suddenly their the size of dinner plates. As my arm slowly trails down hers, it's regrowing just ahead of my hand, muscle, bone, and skin all growing out of her stump and weaving together until there's no sign that spot was gone. Finally, my hand reaches hers, my fingers lacing together with hers and she smiles.

"You know, if I concentrate, I can almost feel you holding my hand," Marina smiles.

"That's understandable," I smirk. "Hey Marina, open your eyes."

Marina frowns, opening her eyes before gasping and looking down, staring at her perfectly healed, if slightly lighter, arm. Where it was bitten off it looks like she has a tan line. Aside from that, her arm is fully restored. She stares at it for several moment before turning around, staring at me questioningly, tears in her eyes.

"But...how?" She asks.

"I honestly have no idea," I admit. "Might be a new Legacy, though I'm not sure how I can restore limbs if you can't."

She holds her hand up, staring at it for another moment before kissing me. I kiss her back, wrapping my arms around her as hers go around my neck. After a moment, I pull back and smile, feeling her left hand touching every inch of her right, making sure it has feeling and marveling at the fact that she has it.

"Alright," I smile. "Time for bed. You can admire your new arm in the morning. We have an early wake up call if we're going to go take over a warship."

Marina smiles and nods. I go into the bathroom, shutting the light off and glancing in the tub. The shampoo bottle is laying on the floor of the tub, the cover broken off and shampoo leaking out of it. I pick the bottle up, rinsing down the last of the shampoo from the floor of the tub then return to our room and climb into bed beside her. She wraps her arms around me instantly, her head landing on my shoulder and I smile, wrapping my arms around her as well before pulling the blanket up over us and carefully turning the light off with Telekinesis.

* * *

Read and review.


	41. Chapter 41

I do not own Lorien Legacies or any of the characters.

* * *

Babysitting

So, when I said early wake up call, I didn't think that meant in less than two hours. When the knock comes to my door, my eyes go to the clock and I groan, loudly. We had slept about an hour and fifty minutes. Marina grumbles something of a half-way coherent complaint and pushes herself up, allowing me to sit up, then collapses back into the bed. I smile, shaking my head, then stand and stumble to the door, cracking it open and looking out through the crack.

"Training time," Nine grins. "If you and soon-to-be Mrs. James aren't too busy doing fun things. Cause I can totally understand if I have to come back in a couple of hours."

"You know James is my first name right?" I ask.

"Well yeah but we never use your last name," Nine says. "How am I supposed to know it? Does she even know it?"

I blink, then stop to think. Had I actually ever told her my name? I know Nine's right about me almost never using it.

"Ireland," Marina's drowsy voice calls from the bed. "You told me when we met."

"Oh," I blink. "Is that the only time?"

"You're the only James we know," Marina responds.

"Ireland huh?" Nine grins. "Well alright then, Mr. Ireland, shall we?"

"Sure," I sigh. "She needs rest though."

"I heard," Nine mutters, voice serious but not carrying past me.

I step out of the room, closing the door behind myself and starting away from the room, Nine following.

"Lexa told me what happened," Nine says. "How's she doing?"

"She's better now," I say. "One of us, we're pretty sure me, got some kind of legacy that regrew her arm."

Nine stops, staring at me.

"What?" I ask.

"That's...great!" Nine grins. "Anyway, we're going to be late. It's in the garage. Let's go."

I nod and we head down to the garage where the rest of the LANEs are gathered, waiting for their teacher to arrive. Once I step into the room, the slightly more talkative of the twins, Caleb and Christian, relaxes slightly, not enough to show, but a little. I walk over to the others as Nine walks past a guard who's barely awake, easily taking his pistol without him noticing. Then, he walks over to us and I grin. Disarming practice.

"So, first lesson," Nine begins, twirling the gun around and around his finger, his display seeming to intimidate everyone but me and Daniela. "You've all got telekinesis right?"

We all nod and the gun stops twirling, waving around at us, only to find itself aimed at the inside of a circular force field around Nine.

"Very nice," Nine grins. "But this is telekinesis practice. We already know you're got with barriers."

"Force Fields," I say. "Ella says that barriers are a bit more physical and a little less telekinetic. She also says that if it was barriers, I wouldn't be able to combine my Telekinesis like I do."

"Whatever," Nine groans. "Just get rid of it."

I let it fade and Nine rolls his eyes.

"So, who wants to try stopping a bullet?" Nine asks, the gun on all of us again.

"Psh, I will turn your ass to stone if you point that thing at me," Daniela snorts, Nine instantly moving down the line away from her.

"I volunteer as tribute," I say, raising a hand, Fleur and Daniela both snorting in amusement.

"Of course you do," Nine sighs. "Well, I was going to teach them before focusing on you, but, what the hell?"

He swings the gun around, glancing to the right where John is watching.

"I'll aim for someplace non fatal," Nine says.

"That'd be nice," I grin.

The gun goes off before I even have time to prepare. Fortunately, my mind works on reflex, the bullet halting pressing against my stomach, my shirt pinned between it and the bullet. I swallow hard. I'm glad my mind was more ready than me. But that was still too close for comfort. I reach down, closing my hand around the bullet then exhale a breath I didn't realize I was holding. I toss the bullet into the air then catch it as it falls, grinning.

"Well that was almost messy," I grin. "No wonder you don't like gunfights."

Nine laughs as Nigel steps forward.

"All right, mate" Nigel says. "I'll give it a whirl."

"That's very brave of you John Lennon-" Nine begins.

"John Lennon was a wanker," Nigel says.

"Whatever that is," Nine snorts. "Anyway, stopping bullets is some high level shit. I'm actually surprised he was able to do it. He got his powers later than all of you, though his seem exceptionally well developed, and strong. Anyway, you'll be fighting against Mogadorians, and they use energy weapons. You can't stop energy with your Telekinesis. Yes, James, I know you can do it with your force fields. Anyway, there's an easier way to do it than just stopping a bullet. Anyone care to guess how?"

"Disarm them," Caleb says.

"Very good weirdo twin number one," Nine says pointing at him with his free hand, gun aimed at Nigel. "Give it a try. Take the gun out of my hand."

Nigel scowls at Nine, but moves his arm as though pulling at something. Nine stumbles forward but doesn't lose the gun.

"That's some decent power," Nine commends. "But you're pulling at my entire arm. focus on the weapon itself. Be precise."

He glances down the line at Ran and cocks his head.

"She understand anything I'm saying?" Nine asks.

"She doesn't speak much english but we think she understands," Nigel says.

"Huh," Nine says, swinging the gun her way.

Almost as if it's as much a reflex as me stopping the bullet, the moment the gun is aimed her way, she whips her arm up, the barrel of the gun crumpling like paper, the trigger mechanism pinching closed on Nine's finger. He drops the gun with a cry and I shout in laughter.

"Hell yeah!" Six cheers from the sideline.

Nine shoots each of us a dirty look and I laugh again.

"Well, she knows what she's doing," I grin. "She passes lesson one. Now for my training. I believe you and I have a score to settle, don't we Nine?"

"If I remember right, it's about seven to one," Nine snorts. "You sure you want to get schooled in front of everyone?"

"We are supposed to be training," I grin, taking a defensive stance, the others all instantly backing away as Nine cracks his neck, beginning to bounce on the balls of his feet, grinning from ear to ear.

"Alright tough guy," Nine grins. "Let's see if you got any physical skills."

He sprints forward, throwing a super-speed-enhanced haymaker at me. I drop, having been expecting it, and punch him in the side of the thigh. He kicks at me and I spin aside, narrowly avoiding it. He spins, throwing an elbow at my head as I stand but I lean back out of the way. He spins again, throwing a punch only for me to block it with y left arm, my right crashing into his jaw. He staggers back, grinning.

"Little bit more of a kick to your punches now," Nine grins. "Looks like you have the usual Garde physical enhancements too. Too bad mine are better."

I think back to punching Phiri Dun-Ra, then being surprised it didn't hurt. Maybe my Legacies were manifesting earlier than I thought. Nine's foot planting itself in between mine breaks me out of my thoughts. He was really not holding back if he was moving that fast. I instantly duck and step left, his fist passing over me before he spins, punching again. I duck under it again, planting two punches to his stomach quickly before ducking around behind him, under a punch. As he begins to turn, I put a leg between his, standing beside him facing the opposite direction then spin, my arm pushing the back of his head, throwing him to the ground. He rolls away, then to his feet and lunges at me. There's no time to react. But I somehow do. My body launches itself into the air over Nine, flipping. Just as he's passing over me, my feet hit him in the back, slamming him into the ground, hard.

"No fucking way," Nine growls. "You got reflexes didn't you?"

"Looks like it," I grin. "Hah. Now about that score."

Nine rolls, flipping me to the ground and we both push ourselves up, throwing a punch. Our fists meet and mine shatters. Right. Super strength. I stagger backward, hand hanging limply. Nine grins and we step forward again. This time, I coat my remaining hand with force field charged with repelling telekinetic force. When our fists meet, a shockwave shoots out. Excellent. I just used my Legacies to rip off Nine's super strength. Nine staggers back, shaking his hand and grinning.

"Nice," Nine grins.

"Time's up," John speaks up. "We'll be late if we wait any longer."

He walks over, healing my hand. Then, he turns as Marina walks into the room, looking to have just woken up, which she probably did.

"Where are all of you going?" John asks.

"We're going to make a covert assault on a Mogadorian warship," John says quietly so only we LANEs can hear. "You are all staying here. James and Daniela, you too."

"What, babysitting duty?" I ask. "Typical. I never get to do the fun stuff anymore. I wanna dust Mogadorians too."

"You'll get your chance," John promises. "In the mean time, train them."

"Fine," I sigh. "Have fun with your fighting and fun things. Don't get my girlfriend killed."

"We won't," John says, glancing at Marina, then freezing, mouth hanging open, the other Garde, except Nine, doing the same. "What...how...but I thought..."

"Oh, right," I say. "Well-"

"James gained a new Legacy that restored her arm but he doesn't know how to use it on command," Ella summarizes.

"Yeah that," I nod.

"Okay," Six shrugs. "I'm not looking this gift horse in the mouth."

"Right," John mutters. "Okay. So...time to go then."

"How come we can't go if you're taking a beagle and a wolf?" Nigel speaks up. "You promised us action."

"Both of the animals would have you pissing your pants," Nine grins.

"LANEs aren't authorized to go on this op anyways," Caleb speaks up.

"Oh piss off, Captain America," Nigel snaps. "I'm ready to fight."

"Aw, kid," Nine snorts. "You're not."

"Enough," I say. "We're plan B. Call that good. We're going to keep training here. Then, when we take on the next warship, we can take it out for ourselves."

Nigel glares at me but doesn't argue anymore. The Loric all board the ship and it takes off, leaving the rest of us standing in the garage alone.

"You're awfully okay for your girlfriend going to raid a Mogadorian warship," Daniela says.

"Well for one, my girlfriend would probably kill me if we fought," I snort. "And two, John knows I would kill him if she actually fought. She'll be back up force with Lexa."

"Lexa's back up force?" Daniela asks.

"Someone has to fly the ship home," I shrug.

"They're not after cloaking devices are they?" Daniela asks.

"Have you even met John?" I snort. "What do you really think he's after?"

"He wants a ride," Daniela snorts. "Great. So, anyway. You're supposed to train us now, right?"

"Yep," I grin, picking up Nine's ruined pistol from the ground and straightening it out so it at least looked halfway normal, though it would probably explode if fired. "So, who's first?"

I drop the clip, aiming at Daniela who whips her hand up, the pistol shooting out of my hand and into hers. She grins turning it back toward me just in time for it to shoot sideways into Nigel's.

"Who's teaching who?" Nigel asks.

I raise a hand and the gun suddenly rises into the air, Nigel dangling from it and looking terrified.

"Not funny!" Nigel shouts. "Put me down!"

"Hey, I never thought of that," Daniela laughs as I set him down.

"Creativity is useful with telekinesis," I snort, taking the gun back. "Who's next?"

One by one, they all take it back until only Ran is left. I hesitate to aim at her, not sure what she'll do if I do. Nine didn't exactly get a good reaction. After a moment she nods and I shrug, aiming at her. Then, the gun launches out of my hand without her moving, shooting over and hovering in front of her.

"Nice," I grin. "She's good."

"She has the most promise out of all the others," Daniela nods. "Except me, of course."

"I don't know," I grin. "She can crumple pistols."

Daniela rolls her eyes as Ran sets the gun in her hand and holds it out. I float it over to myself and then look at the others.

"Alright," I nod. "Next lesson. If you're either too rushed or too preoccupied to disarm, what's the next best thing?"

The others all look over at each other and I laugh, tossing Nigel the gun. He instantly aims at me only for his feet to jerk forward, slamming his back into the floor. The others, Ran excluded, laugh and I notice Ran tensing, readying herself for someone to try.

"I suggest no one tries it on Ran," I say and the others all nod.

I walk toward her, raising my hands to show I won't attack her.

"Watashini shi te kudasai," I say, telling her to use me to practice, since I am the only one who speaks Japanese, though not much.

Ran cocks her head, smiling slightly, then nods. A moment later, my feet are in the air and my head is slamming into the ground. I blink the stars out of my eyes, groaning as I stand and then grin.

"Yoku deki mashi ta," I smile.

"What are you even saying?" Daniela asks. "Are you flirting?"

"No I'm not flirting," I say rolling my eyes. "I'm teaching in a language she understands. That way we don't die when we try to get her to train with us."

"Shame we don't have automatic translators," Daniela snorts. "Then you wouldn't need to flirt in a different language."

"Wanna spar Daniela?" I grin.

"Hell yeah," Daniela grins.

I turn toward her just as energy beams shoot out of her eyes. My hand snaps up, creating a force field between us, which instantly becomes stone. The moment it does, I blast it, sending chunks of stone hurtling at Daniela. She deflects them all easily and I grin.

"Alright," I grin. "I'll admit, you've got practice."

"What not skill?" Daniela grins.

"Nope," I grin. "Just practice."

She yanks on my feet and I use Telekinesis to push against the floor with my back. A moment later, I'm hovering. I blink in surprise and grin, rolling over and kicking off the ground, the telekinetic force now supporting the front of my torso. I race along the ground, cheering as I drift around corners. No wonder Five enjoys flying. Even the cheap two foot high rip off I just learned to do is fun. I turn, racing at Daniela and she fires her energy beams at me. I easily dodge around them only for her Telekinesis to suddenly slam me into the ground, my own Telekinetic energy then launching me into the air. I flip, catching myself on a barrier and lower myself to the ground.

"Alright, fine," I smirk. "Maybe a little skill. But you're not as creative as me. And my Legacies revolve around my creativity."

My force field flips so that I'm at an angle, looking up to see Daniela. I raise my hands, forming force field bullets on my fingers. I make sure they're only strong enough to sting and begin to fire. She rolls out of the way instantly, avoiding my shots before hurling chunks of my previously petrified force field at me. I flip the one I'm standing on, blocking them, then jump off, the force field flying at Daniela, slamming into her legs and flipping her. She catches herself with Telekinesis, setting herself on her feet again and I clap.

"Alright," I grin. "You're not half bad. Tell you what, you can help me teach. You get John Lennon and Bertrand."

"You would stick me with the wanna be rocker," Daniela says, dramatically rolling her eyes.

"Gee thanks," Nigel laughs. "So glad I'm your favorite."

"If you would prefer, you can go to the armory and get hit on by Hawkeye," I grin."

"Hey thanks," she grins, turning and walking toward the elevator.

I laugh, creating a force field in the doorway and she sighs dramatically.

"Oh you're no fun at all," Daniela complains.

"Anata ha watashito supa ga?" Ran speaks up suddenly and I stiffen.

"What's she want?" Daniela asks.

"To spar," I say, swallowing hard.

Daniela laughs, hard. She doubles over, clutching her stomach and the others all inch away from Ran.

"If she stars grenading things, I don't think that's a good idea," Daniela laughs.

"You can use your stone vision to fix any damage she does to the floor," I point out. "Practice for everyone."

"Except us," Bertrand says.

"You get to keep any projectiles from getting too close to you," I say. "And Daniela's going to train with you after. I have a feeling either me or Ran is going to need a medic after this."

I turn to Ran and nod. She nods as well and that's the only warning I get. A moment later, my feet are in the air once again. This time, there are glowing red chunks of stone falling toward me. I catch them in a force field and they explode, shattering it but not doing damage to anything else. I flip to my feet as Ran sprints at me, grabbing a large chunk of stone from the ground. I gulp. That's a big grenade. She hurls it and I catch it in several layers of force fields. Good thing. The explosion blasts through all five layers and throws everyone, cracking the ground instantly. I flip, landing on my feet and then jump, landing on a force field and flying into the air, forming weak force field bullets on my hands and beginning to fire at Ran. She's faster to react than Daniela. Rather than dodge them, she blocks them with chunks of stone, which she then collects.

"Of for crying out loud!" I complain.

She hurls them, the stones scattering into a massive wall that I can't simply dodge. I swat the entire wall into a pile on the ground and begin to generate force fields while everyone else runs for cover. The blast craters the ground, large chunks of stone flying across the room. Great. More grenades.

Ran reaches for one but I encase both of her hands in force fields, lifting her into the air with them. She glares at me and suddenly my feet are in the air for the third time in ten minutes. I fall past my force field but flip, the force field shooting down to catch me.

"Would you cut that out!" I snap holding out my hand.

Just as I do, Ran spits a chunk of stone out of her mouth, using Telekinesis to launch it at me.

"When?" I demand.

I dive off my platform, allowing the grenade to blast it, then land on the ground, encasing Ran in a forcefield completely. Then, I form a spear from my force fields and hurl it. It shatters against the force field bubble Ran is in but gets the point across. I win. Fight over. I hope. I release the force field and Ran drops to the ground and cocks her head. I turn, looking back to see a glowing stone hovering behind me.

"Oh," I sigh. "She learned to charge them from a distance."

I surround the grenade with a force field, using the force field to launch myself away just before the grenade explodes, shattering the force field. I land on my back at Daniela's feet and she grins down at me.

"Shut up," I grumble. "She's got a difficult power to work around as training."

Daniela nods and I stand as Ran bows. I return the gesture, grateful that she's decided to stop trying to blow me up. I stand up again as the others walk over.

"So," Daniela says. "Now that you've fought the two of us, what's next?"

"Hand to hand combat," I say. "Telekinesis is great, but you won't always have it."

"So what do we do?" Daniela asks.

"First, breakfast," I say. "I'm starving. We'll continue after we eat something."

The others all nod and we head into the Elevator, heading up to the kitchen floor then stepping out, the elevator instantly closing and leaving, having been summoned by someone else. We walk down the hallway, passing the armory as we do, but suddenly there's a thunderous crash from the elevator.

* * *

Read and review.


	42. Chapter 42

I do not own Lorien Legacies or any of the characters.

* * *

Tank

We all hold our breath, staring toward the elevator. Gunfire echoes down the hallway instantly. We sprint to the armory, Hawkeye meeting me at the door, tossing me my Tavor, already loaded with my special mag. Then, he and Rookie step into the hallway, raising M4s.

"Hello Hawkeye," Daniela smirks, stepping up beside us, eyes glowing slightly.

"Cool it Medusa," Hawkeye grins. "Let us have some fun first."

Mogadorians suddenly begin to sprint around the corner and I open fire with Hawkeye and Rookie. It's a bit difficult for me to use the Tavor on full auto while creating ammo with my mind, so I stick with semi auto for now. Mogadorians explode into ash as they round the corner, but they just keep coming.

"So many," Hawkeye growls, reloading, Rookie doing the same a moment later.

"Yup," I nod. Just as the two raise their rifles again, something else steps around the corner.

It's not a normal Mogadorian. Its legs are normal sized but its torso is about five times normal size, the skin split open in places from stretching too far. Its neck muscles are bulging so much they've deformed the head, which had a fanged underbite, its lower jaw jutting out painfully. The Mogadorian looks like he's in pain, and isn't happy about it.

"It's...it's a Tank!" Hawkeye gapes.

"Tank?" Nigel asks.

"Left4Dead," Rookie says. "We're nerds."

"Well, you're right about your description," Daniela nods. "Can you shoot it now?"

Both shoot the Mogadorian in the chest but the Mogadorian just looks down, barely, then back up before roaring. I lower my rifle, firing a force field bullet from my fingers. However, just before it hits, the Mogadorian's arm swipes up, his claws smashing the bullet.

"Okay," I say. "New plan. Run!"

We all turn, sprinting away from the thing which charges after us. I fire several force field disks back at it and it smashes each. Then, I smash the ground ahead of us with a barrage of force field bullets. Ran instantly collects a dozen or so chunks of stone and charges them then hurls them over her shoulder. The explosions rock the hallway, the Mogadorian freak roaring in pain. I break a bigger chunk free, giving it to Ran and pointing at the floor. She nods, charging it then dropping it as we run. A moment later, the explosion throws us all and the Mogadorian roars as he falls into the hole created. Gunfire echoes up from below us instantly, followed by screams, and I run back to the hole.

"Hey!" Daniela shouts. "You can't abandon us!"

"Keep them safe!" I shout. "I'll be back!"

I drop through the hole, landing among a dozen corpses. As soon as I land, I spin, ducking under a clawed hand as the Mogadorian freak slashes at me. I leap back, narrowly avoiding a second then take a defensive stance, gulping.

"Well, so much for not needing to be healed again now that I have Legacies," I growl. "Hurry home Marina. Actually, stay away, Marina. Hurry home John."

The creature lunges at me, swiping and I flip over him, forming a force field dagger and slashing his shoulder. The knife shatters and the creature spins, backhanding me down the hallway. I bounce and roll along, thanking God that my ribs are only bruised, not that it's that much less painful. I push myself up, watching the creature as it crouches, hands moving to the floor, ready to charge. I really hate that thing. and the only way to go is through it. Literally. It's a dead end behind me. Corpses that have literally been torn apart are piled against the wall.

"Well, looks like this is it then," I sigh. "I have no choice left."

I coat my hands in force fields, like I did when fighting Nine, then do the same for my feet. I can't run from the thing, but I can sure as hell at least get behind it and run for my life. Just have to distract it first.

The freak sprints forward, swiping at me with his claws. I jump, driving my right fist into its face, making it stagger back. The force field holds, but the freak takes the impact better than I hoped. It swipes at me again and I duck under it before hitting it in the abdomen with a side kick. It staggers back again and I jump, spinning and kicking it in the side of the head. It crashes sideways into the wall and I land, leaping forward and zipping along on a cushion of Telekinetic energy. The Mogadorian charges after me, easily running at fifteen miles an hour, almost keeping up with me. I zip around corners, passing corpses and piles of ash everywhere, though mostly corpses, until finally flipping and landing on my feet at a fork. Down one path, the lights are out. On the other, there's a line of Mogadorians aiming at me. just before they can fire, a glowing shell casing lands in the middle of them and explodes, blasting the group. Then, a glowing energy beam shoots out of the ceiling, turning the rest to stone. The human Garde land among the statues and I spin as the massive Mogadorian rounds the corner, charging at me.

"Hide!" I say. "I've got a plan!"

I fire several force field bullets at the thing and it smashes them before chasing me down the darkened hallway. For about ten seconds, I think I'm okay. Then, Mogadorians begin to step out of the shadows, firing at me. I avoid and block what I can, several shots scoring burns on my limbs, then, I leap forward, shooting down the hallway again. I whip around a corner in time to see Sam sprinting past up ahead. I swing down his path, grabbing him and putting him on my back and he grabs my shoulders, shouting in fear.

"What's going on?" He asks just as the mammoth freak of a Mogadorian crashes through the wall just behind us, narrowly missing us. "Never mind!"

I zip down another side passage, heading toward the one room where I know we'll be able to find help.

"Where are we going?" Sam asks.

"Five's cell!" I say.

"That's the other way!" Sam shouts.

"We're taking the long way to lose this thing!" I say.

After a moment I flip, grabbing Sam and wincing.

"Sorry!" I slow enough to not kill him then hurl him down a side passage in a force field before continuing.

The landing will hurt a bit, but he'll live. And the freak chases me, ignoring him, so he's safe, for now. I hold my hand out, force fields blasting through the floor, dropping it in between a squad of humans and Mogadorians. I growl in annoyance, creating a force field to protect the humans, who instantly flee. The freak leaps at me from behind and I flip, kicking off a second force field and barely avoid getting grabbed. The freak crashes down on the other Mogadorians and I continue down the hallway. In truth, I don't know where I'm going. I just have to keep the freak busy. Finally, I reach the infirmary and swing down a side passage, heading toward the elevator shaft. As I do, I land, sprinting along and sprint forward. After several minutes, I reach an area where dozens of Mogadorians are frozen in stone. I grin. Daniela is off to the side, massaging her head.

"Don't overuse it," I say. "It hurts."

Already I can feel a headache of my own. Flying around and creating so many force fields isn't easy.

"I know," Daniela says.

I look around. The human Garde are all present, as are Hawkeye and Rookie, but both Hawkeye and Rookie are unconscious with several large, violet icicles impaling them, the icicles melting.

"How..."

"Some Mogadorian launched them at the others while she had these weird tentacles impaling John," Daniela says. "Hawkeye and Rookie saved Bertrand and Fleur, but they got hurt."

"John's caught?" I ask. "Is he alive?"

"I think so," Daniela nods. "

"James!" a familiar voice shouts.

I spin as Sam, John, Walker, Caleb, and General Lawson hurry toward us, John bleeding badly but slowly starting to heal, black ooze leaking from his wounds.

"What happened?" I ask.

"Phiri Dun-Ra," John replies.

I punch a statue, careful to create a force field so I break the statue instead of my hand. I doubt John's in any condition to clean up my stupid mistakes right now. Just as John and the others reach us, the ground suddenly lurches, massive cracks spreading from a single point where the floor is suddenly raised.

"This thing's ridiculous!" I gape. "Just go away!"

It smashes into the ground again, chunks of floor starting to fall away. I step past the others, forming a sword out of my force fields. This time, however, unlike any time before, I charge the sword with a painful amount of repulsive Telekinetic energy, enough that it's blowing my clothes away from it like wind. I hold it at my side, waiting. Then, the creature blasts up through the ground, landing in front of it. I sprint forward, twisting my hand and slashing at the creature. It leaps backward over the hole, avoiding the slash. So it can hurt him. Good. I create a force field over the floor, chasing the creature for a change. It slashes at me with its claws and I duck under them, spinning and slashing it across the stomach. The blade blasts the slash into a gaping wound, making the thing stagger back. Then, it lunges, swiping at me. I remove its hand, the severed appendage getting embedded in the wall. Then, I spin, slashing at the creature again. My sword blasts it open again. Then, its other hand tears several gashes across my front, making my sword shatter and slamming me into the wall.

"James!" Daniela shouts.

The thing picks me up and I pry my hand loose, pointing a finger gun at its face.

"Just die!" I shout, firing a force field bullet.

The bullet drills through its left eye, blasting out through the creature's back and then smashing into the floor, shattering but making a crater. The creature drops me, staggering back before collapsing, dissolving into ash. I groan, holding a hand over my wound before sighing.

"Thank God that's over," I sigh. "Hey John, how long till you can heal me?"

"A little bit," John replies.

I nod, pushing myself up and limping toward the others. Then, I sit against a petrified Mogadorian and groan.

"I think I'll sit out the search for survivors," I say. "Phiri Dun-Ra has probably retreated by now. And she'll have taken the rest of the Mogadorians with her. But they'll be back."

John nods, also sitting down, and Daniela sighs.

"Me and Ran will go find survivors," she says. "Sam, you come too. The rest of you stay here."

I nod, not feeling like arguing. Though, I do feel like pointing our I'm not just being lazy. But, before I can, the three of them head to the elevator and head down to the bottom level where Sam says his father should be. After a few minutes, I'm starting to feel light headed from blood loss but John is finally starting to be able to move again. He still won't be able to heal me, but he says the others have finally returned. I sigh in relief. That's good. That means that John will have told Ella to send Marina. Which means that she should be here within another minute. I look down at my side, wincing when I see pieces of muscle and even my intestines poking out through my shredded side. Good thing I didn't try to move.

"James!" Marina shrieks as she steps out of the elevator, seeing me on the floor, coated in my own blood, again.

She sprints over, instantly healing me and I smile.

"Thanks," I smile. "That was starting to be a bit uncomfortable."

She glares at me a second before sighing and hugging me.

"Why do you always have to play the hero?" she sighs.

"But I'm so good at it," I smile. "Suppose you can help John with his neck?"

Marina looks back at John and gasps. She hurries over, quickly finishing sealing up his stab wounds but when she tries to heal his neck, nothing happens.

"Voron noose," John says.

I recall the vision of Setrákus Ra and Pittacus Lore's past, specifically Pittacus using a noose from some kind of plant called Voron that couldn't be healed by Legacies to execute Setrákus Ra. Unfortunately, Pittacus hadn't been able to do it in the end, and had let Setrákus Ra go, leading to the present day problems.

"I could try and get my healing Legacy working," I say. "I was able to restore Marina's arm when she couldn't. It might work on your neck too."

John shrugs as Ella steps out of the elevator with Sarah. Sarah gasps in surprise and fear, sprinting over. She's got a few scraps and burns as well, along with blood from other people all over, but she's alright. I kneel down in front of John, placing my hands over his wound. I close my eyes, focusing and trying to activate the Legacy, however, as when I had tried before after accidentally healing Marina, nothing happens.

"No good," I sigh. "I don't know how to get it to work."

"Maybe it activates automatically when you put your hand on an amputated limb," Marina says.

"I could try using my Telepathy to figure it out using your memory of healing Marina," Ella offers. "Maybe it's tied to something specific to what was happening then."

I nod and feel the tickle of her probing my mind. I let the memory of healing Marina fill my mind. For a moment, it's hazy, until Ella begins to focus her Telepathy on it.

"Maybe it's your emotions," Ella suggests. "I could force you to recreate them. Well, any that aren't tied to your feelings for Marina."

I nod and a moment later, guilt and sympathy flood through me, the same as I had felt when Marina had been in tears from not having her arm. A moment later, my hand begins to glow and John's neck begins to slowly seal itself. I blink in surprise, then focus on the emotions again. As the wound finishes healing, my hand's glow fades and John reaches up, feeling his newly healed neck.

"Wow," he says. "And here I thought it couldn't be healed. How did yours work?"

"It's a new Legacy," Ella says. "Voron was resistant to all of the Legacies on Lorien. James' was never on Lorien."

"Wow," I blink. "So, would he be able to copy it?"

"Perhaps," Ella nods.

"Guys," Sam suddenly says, stepping around the corner. "You better come see this."

I glance at Hawkeye and Rookie who Marina's healing.

"We'll catch up," Marina says. "You guys better go."

I nod and turn, following Sam with the others.

* * *

Read and review.


	43. Chapter 43

I do not own Lorien Legacies or any of the characters.

* * *

Future Plans

I stare at the televisions. The warships have begun bombarding the cities they're over. The destruction is unimaginable. And it's not likely to stop any time soon.

Standing in front of Lawson's desk, which is in front of the wall of televisions that we're watching the destruction on, stands Five, who Sam and John says saved John from Phiri Dun-Ra, which is why they're not locking him up again. I turn, unable to watch the scenes of destruction any longer, and immediately wrap my arms around Marina, stopping her from seeing Five.

"I'm sorry," she whispers, understanding what's going on, probably having seen it on Lexa's ship.

"It's not your fault," I say. "But I'm going to make him pay."

"Be careful," Marina warns. "That's how I was about Five, and you've kept me from becoming consumed by revenge."

I nod as Marina moves to pass me, but I catch her again.

"He's in there isn't he?" she asks.

"Yeah," I nod. "He saved John's life from Phiri Dun-Ra so they're going to let him stay out of a cell until after we deal with Setrákus Ra."

Marina nods, tense, then leans against me, sighing.

"I can't wait until this is over," Marina sighs. "What will happen then?"

"I honestly don't know," I admit. "I've never been good at planning ahead. And after fighting the Mogadorians for so long, and the Marine Corps before that, I honestly don't know what I'll do when this is over."

"You could always reenlist," Marina says.

"No way," I snort. "I hated it. I'm never going back."

Marina nods and I turn, heading for the elevator.

"Come on," I say. "We should have Lexa get the ship ready. I'd rather not be here when Phiri Dun-Ra returns."

"I'd like to be," Marina says. "I'd love to pay her back."

"I don't want to know what she'll bring with her this time," I say. "We'll kill her some other time. Probably in West Virginia."

Marina nods and we step out of the elevator, nodding to Lexa to get the ship started. The other human Garde, minus Sam, have already gathered, along with Hawkeye and Rookie, and are waiting for the rest of us, or for us to tell them what's going on."

"What's up?" Daniela asks. "Is something wrong?"

I silently walk onto the ship with Marina, sitting at the back, Marina sitting beside me, leaning on my shoulder, arms around me. The human Garde all board the ship, no one saying anything, all sensing what's wrong. After a few minutes, the Loric along with Sam, Lawson, and Walker all step onto the ship and Lexa takes off, leaving the secret base behind. As we fly, John and Lawson discuss the final details of the plan. Then, we land in an open field, Walker and Lawson leaving to join the military convoy waiting for them after he tells John that there's a team waiting at each Loralite growth. Hawkeye and Rookie go with them, deciding that they'd be more useful with him than watching us fight Mogadorians. That leaves the human Garde and the Loric.

"When our planet was attacked, our Elders sent us away so that we'd live to fight another day," John begins. "So, that's what we're doing for all of you. Win or lose, after tomorrow, your world will be a changed place. It will need someone to defend it. But for today, the future defenders need defending."

The human Garde all remain silent, allowing him to speak. In truth, everyone knew they were never going to fight Setrákus Ra with us. And they're relieved about it. Even Daniela, though she won't show it.

"We had a charm burned into us, one that would keep us safe, for a time," John says. "We can't do that for you. But we can give you...something else."

Suddenly, Regal, the chimæra that prefers the form of a hawk, flies out of the ship, landing on Caleb's shoulder, ruffling his hair with its wings. Christian, having turned out to have been a doppelganger instead of a twin, no longer accompanies him, and he actually seems a little happier without him around. Bandit, the raccoon chimæra, scratches at Nigel's leg until he picks him up. Gamera, the turtle chimæra, walks over to Ran, who bends down, scratching his head and smiling. Bertrand and Fleur look a little unhappy that they don't get one, especially when Biscuit, the golden retriever chimæra that Sarah is fond of, walks over to Daniela. After a moment, Stanley, the fat cat that was so fond of Sam, brushes against Sam's leg for a moment before making his way over to Bertrand and Fleur, rubbing against both of their legs.

"Dust and BK are both coming with us," John says, so two of you will need to share. These chimæra will be your protectors until your Legacies come in and you've trained them. And then, they will be your greatest allies. One day, hopefully, we'll be able to help you more, train you properly. But, until that day comes..."

John trails off. He doesn't know what to say. So I speak up.

"Stay alive," I say. "Stay safe and stay alive until this is over. And if we fail, and you'll know if we fail, you'll be the ones who have to lead the resistance against the Mogadorians, the ones to eventually kill Setrákus Ra. So, until this is over and we've taken Setrákus Ra's head off his shoulders, stay safe."

They all nod, Stanley jumping up into Fleur's arms.

The human Garde, except Daniela, all turn, walking away and Daniela walks over.

"I'm totally badass enough to help you fight," Daniela says. "But someone has to look after these kids."

"Good luck training Ran," I grin.

Daniela sticks her tongue out at me before smiling around at everyone.

"Don't die," she says.

"Take care Daniela," John says.

She turns, walking away and we begin to board the ship again, Sam and John staying behind.

"I know you don't expect me to leave with them," Sam says.

"Nope," John smiles. "You're stuck with us."

Sam smiles and nods, and a few minutes later, we're flying toward Niagara Falls. The trip is quiet, except for Malcolm and Sam calling Sam's mother to say their goodbyes and explain what they've been doing. I sit in the copilot seat, away from the others, even Marina. Even I would have thought I'd have been spending as much time with her as I could, but I was too afraid. Every time I look at her since Patience Creek was attacked, I can only see her crashing into the ground under the power of Setrákus Ra's Telekinesis. I know that I can protect her now, but it doesn't stop the images.

Finally we land and walk over to the Loralite growth. There, there's a Mogadorian, one that Adam claims turned against his commander to help John and the others, therefor was a temporary ally.

"All you have to do is picture the location and the stone will take you there," Ella explains. "If you have trouble, I can help...put an image in your head. When I was linked with Legacy, I saw all the stones simultaneously, so I know what their surroundings look like."

"Lion's Head is a place and not, uh, an actual lion's head, right?" Sam asks, looking at the list of places.

"I'll help you Sam," Ella says.

Nine raises his hand. "If we do picture an actual lion's head..."

"No, you won't teleport onto a lion," Ella says, finishing his thought.

"Let's get this done," John says.

We pair off to make the deliveries, John going with Five since no one else wanted to. I go with Marina, Nine with Ella, and Sam with Six. Everyone else stays behind. Each pair grabs a backpack filled with cloaking devices and walks over to the stone, marking off a location on the paper and having Ella show it to them then leaving, her and Nine planning to go last. Ella gives me the image of our destination and I take Marina's hand, resting my other hand on the rock. My stomach jerks instantly and a moment later, I'm somewhere else entirely. I take my hand off the rock and groan just as soldiers hurry over to get the backpack. They take it and I sigh, leaning against a large rock beside the Loralite growth.

"What's wrong?" Marina asks once the special forces troops are gone, just like I knew she would. "Why are you avoiding me again?"

"I'm sorry," I say. "I don't want to. But...I'm afraid. Every time I look at you I see Setrákus Ra..."

I trail off and she understands, walking forward and taking my hands.

"You saved me," Marina says. "You stopped him from killing me, you kept Sarah alive when she should have died, and you healed my arm when even I couldn't. You don't have to be afraid anymore. You can keep me safe. You've beaten your curse. You're not going to lose me, James. I promise you. I'm not leaving you, no matter what happens."

I smile at her but it fades after a minute.

"James," she sighs, hugging me. "It's almost over. Once we're done with Setrákus Ra, we'll be able to do whatever we want. What are we going to do first?"

"Sleep," I laugh. "I'm going to sleep. Probably for a few years."

Marina laughs as well, nodding and pulling back.

"Alright," she smiles. "We'll sleep. And then let's take a vacation. See the world without fighting Mogadorians everywhere we go."

I smile and nod looking past her, at the world around us. It's a field of grass, hundreds of flowers around us. Thanks to our night vision, we can see it perfectly. My smile fades again and Marina looks worried.

"Actually, there is one thing I want if we survive this," I say.

"What?" Marina asks.

I kneel, reaching into my pocket as Marina's eyes widen. Hawkeye's good at a lot of things. Shooting, hand-to-hand combat, picking up chicks. But maybe his best quality, is his ability to do small favors for people that they don't even realize they need yet. Case and point is the object he had gotten for me back in New York during the invasion that I hadn't told anyone about since he gave it to me "for later use." I hold the small black box out and Marina's eyes water as she covers her mouth.

"Will you marry me?" I ask opening the box.

She cries out happily, nodding before grabbing the ring and throwing her arms around me, kissing me. I smile, kissing her back and after a moment she pulls back, admiring the diamond ring on her finger. I kiss her again then pull back, taking her hand and resting my other one on the stone, teleporting us back to Niagara Falls. We appear at the same time as Sam and Six and Sam and I both go to grab another back pack. Just as I pick mine up, I hear Six squeal and almost drop the pack, covering my mouth as I laugh and Sam stares back at them in confusion. I turn to look and see every male watching me as all of the girls are around Marina, admiring the ring. Nine grins at me and raises an eyebrow and I roll my eyes, walking back over.

"Sorry, but I'm going to have to borrow my fiancée for a bit," I say. "We've got more cloaking devices to deliver."

Marina slips her hand into mine instantly and the others step back before Ella gives us an image of the next area and we're gone again.

* * *

Read and review.


	44. Chapter 44

I do not own Lorien Legacies or any of the characters.

* * *

Battleship

I lean on the railing of our warship's observation deck, staring out at the clouds in front of us. We finished delivering the cloaking devices and now we're nearing the mountain in West Virginia where we'll first have to use our inferior, understaffed Warship to destroy the Anubis, which boasted the ability to take on the entire fleet, though I seriously doubt that, and then infiltrate the mountain and obliterate every Mogadorian in it. Personally I favor the boarding and annihilation plan of taking the Anubis the same way Six, John, and Adam had our warship, which I still marvel at given John did it almost single handedly, apparently. However, I was strictly told we would be obliterating the Anubis, not taking it over. So now, we had to come up with a plan to fight a superior ship with our already damaged one.

"We're going to need all of our strength to fight Setrákus Ra," Marina says, stepping up next to me. "Otherwise I'd be going over onto the Anubis with you to wipe the Mogadorians out the more fun way."

She grins at me and I smirk back, forcing the panic still trying to overwhelm me down. The closer we get to the mountain, the more I feel like something bad is going to happen. But first, we have to deal with the mountain's guard dog.

"I could always go inside and blow up a bunch of fuel canisters," I state. "That would take the ship down without us risking getting blown up too."

Marina nods and leans on my shoulder.

"I know you feel helpless," Marina says. "And I can tell you're afraid something's going to happen, more than you've ever been since I met you. But trust me. We'll all be okay."

I nod, smiling at her and kiss her. Then, I look forward again. John has already left to check the status of the Anubis. And now, it's time for Six to get to work. Fortunately, there are a few clouds around us at the moment, so Six doesn't have to generate the storm from nothing. She steps up beside me and Marina, holding her hands over her head. The clouds around us begin to darken and grow rapidly, rain pelting the window and wind howling outside. Six grits her teeth, starting to tremble quickly as we rise into the storm. The storm front is massive. Bigger than any I've seen her make before. As we near the Anubis, Six hurls a lightning bolt at it, the bolt bending around on the force field.

"Doesn't look like it penetrated," Rex, the new Mogadorian ally of ours, speaks up.

"That's fine," Six growls, concentrating as her storm wraps around the Anubis's force field, the clouds and rain failing to breach the shields but still blinding the ship.

"Imagine their faces," Five speaks up from his spot at one of the ship's four weapons control stations. "I bet they're shitting their pants."

"Shut up," Nine growls out of habit.

Marina tenses slightly as Five speaks so I wrap an arm around her. The infiltration plan is not exactly my favorite part of the plan. When we get through the mountain's barrier, I'm supposed to help fight the group that inevitably meets us while Five flies Six and Adam around them to the entrance while invisible. Then, he will engage the Mogadorians from behind and I'm supposed to break through and catch up with Six and Adam and help them drop the shields around the mountain. Then, and only then, am I allowed to go help Marina, John, Nine, and Five fight Setrákus Ra, assuming he's not dead yet. Somehow I don't think he will be.

Marina reaches out, putting her hand on the window. Thanks to Ella and John's Telepathy, in my mind I watch as three massive tornados rage around and around on the Anubis, inside its force field, chunks of frozen rain falling inside of it as well, hitting the Anubis and freezing, weighing it down. The tornados are ripping armor plating and an assortment of other metal objects off and hurling them, hopefully doing a lot of damage. Finally, the Anubis turns, beginning to flee.

"They're retreating!" Rex shouts.

"That's not good," Adam growls. "Six has to stay in range to keep up the weather."

Suddenly, something explodes into a massive red fireball off to one side. Then again on the other side, like fireworks.

"They're shooting at us!" Sam shouts.

"They're blind firing!" Adam says. "They don't know where we-"

He's cut off by a shot hitting our shields. It explodes with a deafening boom and everything outside the window flares red as the force field becomes visible. Not good. Now we're illuminated.

"We're hit!" Rex shouts.

"Brace yourselves!" Adam shouts, grabbing his desk hard.

I wrap an arm around Marina, grabbing the railing and then wrapping force field chains around Six, tethering her to me and Marina. Less than a second later, the ship is blasted. It's a constant stream of energy throwing everyone to the floor. I lose my grip on the railing and my focus on Six's restraints and all three of us crash to the floor just as the blast ends, a siren suddenly sounding, screaming throughout the ship.

"Shields at forty eight percent!" Adam reports.

"Forty-what!?" Sam gapes. "I thought these shields were impenetrable!"

"To your weapons!" Adam snaps. "They're recharging their main cannon. I don't know if we'll survive another hit!"

I shoot the alarm over my head with a force field bullet to avoid it giving me a headache. Then, I turn to the window. My turn now. Just need a little cooperation. Before I can, the sides of the Anubis come alive with tiny specks. Skimmers. Hundreds. I growl in annoyance.

"Is our main cannon lined up?" I ask.

"No," Adam says. "Not yet. Five, Malcolm, open fire right...now!"

Both do so. Five fires wildly, breathing erratically. Malcolm takes the time to track each target. Personally, I think Five might have it right on this one. There's a lot of Skimmers and only one shot is needed to take it down.

"I can't get the shields up!" Rex says. "They're not responding. I'm a navigator, this isn't my area of expertise!"

"You sabotaging us freak?" Nine growls.

"No!" Rex swears. "I swear I'm trying. I only need another couple of minutes-"

"Let me try," Sam says. "All power to the shields!"

The sirens stop. The guns stop. Suddenly we're falling. I create a force field on the ground, attaching myself to it then grab Marina as she begins to float into the air as we fall. Nine grabs Six, using his antigravity Legacy to do the same.

"Tell me you didn't just shut off another ship!" Lexa shouts.

"Another?" I ask.

"Long story," Marina says.

"All power to the shields," Rex says. "All power to the shields means we can't fly you idiot!"

"I'll fix this!" Sam promises. "Power to the engines!"

Nothing. I see Skimmers closing in, flying in a straight line. I grin forming a large spiked force field wall between us and them, the wall moving with us.

"Six, Marina, hit the force field with ice!" I say.

They work together, freezing rain into massive chunks of ice the size of basketballs. The Skimmers are battered for a moment until one hits the back of the force field and it blasts away from the ice which shatters. The force field wall I made crashes down through the Skimmers, blasting them all into pieces and sending them hurtling to the ground.

"Come on you Mogadorian hunk of junk!" Sam is shouting. "Engines on! Give me something!"

"Hold on!" Adam suddenly shouts.

Suddenly, the Anubis's main cannon discharges, the blast crashing into the shield directly in front of the observation deck. Everything flares red. The heat from the blast hits us, suffocating. The several feet thick window in front of us begins to crack. Then, it's over. The blast fades and I sigh in relief.

"Shields held!" Rex shouts. "Barely!"

"I think you just saved us Sammy," Nine grins. "For a few minutes at least."

"We're still falling you fools," Five snarls.

"Good," Adam says. "We're going to ram them. Six?"

"Yeah?" Six asks.

"I need everything you've got. Bring them down."

Six holds her hands up again, growling in effort. One tornado. Two. Freezing rain augmented by Marina. The storm's even bigger and more powerful than before. The Anubis is losing groups of panels at a time, blasters breaking. Lightning blasts the ship from within the shield where she's formed clouds this time. The main cannon begins to shriek, a glowing red light in the barrel. A moment later, a lightning bolt drills straight through. There's an electric shriek followed by a deafening explosion and suddenly the cannon has exploded, taking a massive chunk of the ship with it. The Anubis teeters. It's barley holding together.

"Keep going!" Rex shouts. "You could knock out their systems!"

Lightning flashes through the air, blasting the window of the Anubis's command deck, exactly where we'd be standing if we were on that ship. A moment later, Mogadorians, bits of metal, and a bunch of other debris are all sucked out the broken window. The tornados have grown so strong that the trees on the mountain side are being sucked up, igniting against the Anubis's shields when they hit. More power. Six groans as she strains to push harder. We're getting dangerously close to the Anubis now, and falling fast.

"You know," Nine speaks up, still holding Six against himself to keep her steady. "If I'm going to die, there are worse positions."

I reach out and playfully slap him, Six grinning as I do. Then, a tree slams into the belly of the Anubis, a loud boom reaching us as it dents the metal plates. Wait. How'd it get to the ship if the ship is shielded.

"The shields are down!" Rex shouts and I grin.

It's over. We win.

"Brace yourselves!" Adam warns.

I grip the railing with my left hand, holding Marina tight with my right. Our force field hits the Anubis, caving it in. Panels and computers on our bridge spark and explode, fires suddenly dancing to life around the room. I form an air tight force field around each flame, causing it to go out after a moment. The Anubis crashes down on the mountain's shield. A column of bright orange flame explodes into the air and the Anubis falls, pinwheeling away from the mountain, breaking apart under its own weight as it tears through the ground.

"Thrusters!" Adam shouts. "Sam, give me back the thrusters!"

"Ship!" Sam shouts. "Engage thrusters!"

Still nothing.

"Ella, I'm picturing the way the ship works!" Adam says.

"Got it!" Ella nods. "Over to you Sam!"

Sam nods and closes his eyes, focusing on the image.

"Thrusters!" Sam shouts. "Ship, give me the thrusters!"

Success. The thrusters kick on and Adam pulls up, just barely managing to pull up in time to not crash. We move up to hover over the mountain and I grin, looking down at the Mogadorians gathered in front of the mountain. They look terrified.

"One down," I grin. "Still not as fun as it could have been my way, but good enough."

Marina laughs, hugging me then sighs.

"Thank God that actually worked," Marina says turning to the others. "Next stop, Setrákus's grave."

We all nod grinning. It's almost over. But even so. That feeling of terror is stronger than ever.

* * *

Read and review.


	45. Chapter 45

I do not own Lorien Legacies or any of the characters.

* * *

West Virginia

I stare out the window, face completely emotionless. We're in the docking bay, positioned directly over the Mogadorians we'd be slaughtering in a few seconds.

"Everyone ready?" John asks as the docking bay door opens. "Let's go!"

I sweep my arms toward the door and all of the Skimmers in the hangar roll out, plummeting toward the shield, Lexa using them to cover her own descent. If it wasn't dark, or chaos, the Mogadorians may have been able to tell which was the real threat. If we hadn't taken down the Anubis, maybe they wouldn't have wasted ten minutes shooting uselessly at our warship's shields.

Skimmers crash down on the shield around the mountain, balls of white-hot flame pockmarking the shield. Then, we pass through. Blaster fire begins to focus on us instantly. I create a force field around the ship, gritting my teeth. Big constructs are difficult, though not nearly as the ridiculously precise control of creating artificial blood vessels by the dozen. Lexa level the ship out at the last second and lands it on a dozen Mogadorians, crushing them into the ground. Five grabs Six and Adam instantly, Six turning them invisible before I drop my shield and he flies out of the ship seconds before blaster fire begins to assault us. Nine and I step out first, Nine cracking his knuckles as he strides forward but I'm much less patient. The moment my feet find dirt, force field spikes explode out of the dirt throughout the Mogadorians. They explode into clouds of dust as a force field appears around me, blaster fire bouncing off of it. I stride forward, the shield shrinking down to form to my body and I hold my right arm out, a spiked ball-and-chain forming in my hands. I grip the chain, beginning to spin the weapon over my head then let go, allowing it to crash through the Mogadorians. I sprint after it, blaster fire bouncing off of my as I run through the Mogadorians' ranks, all of the blasts bouncing back into other Mogadorians. When I'm far enough from the others, I swipe my hand, force field spikes shooting out of the ground and into blasters all around me. I snap my fingers and the blasters instantly compress into paper thin metal rings around the spikes. The Mogadorians shout in surprise before I snap my fingers again and paper thin shards of metal explode outward into the ranks of the Mogadorians. Behind me, John, Nine, and Marina are all slaughtering Mogadorians as well. I form a very, very long sword and spin, Nine and John having to leap over it as I do. An ash cloud fills the area just before Five streaks past, crashing two Mogadorians' heads together.

I sigh. I was actually having fun testing myself. I turn toward the door and leap forward, racing over the ground as I had in Patience Creek. As I speed toward the Mogadorians, I extend a hand, a large force field disk forming, spikes jutting out from the front. Again and again I'm showered in ash before finally I'm inside and behind the Mogadorians. Several turn to follow me but I pull my rifle around, grinning as I open fire, dropping a dozen or so before turning and sprinting into the mountain, following the directions Ella had telepathically given to me before we left. After a few minutes, I reach the control room, stepping through the door just as Adam reports that the shields are down.

"Sorry I'm late," I say, walking over.

"It's alright," Six says. "No trouble here."

I look down at the piles of ash and bone fragments, then at the one complete body, which has black blood over a fair portion of it but didn't disintegrate. I cock my head.

"Weird when they don't leave a body," Six mutters.

"Yeah," I nod. "Weird."

I raise my rifle and put a shot through her leg. She screams. She lunges for a blaster beside her but before she can reach it I put a second shot through her heart and she drops, beginning to disintegrate.

"No getting shot in the back today, thank you," I say.

"Yeah, we probably should have checked," Adam says.

"Agreed," Six nods. "Alright, let's go help the others.

"Hang on," Adam says. "I have something to tell you."

"Can it wait?" I ask. "I need to get to Marina."

"It can't," Adam says. "Before we attacked the Anubis, John made me make him a promise. If he fails to stop Setrákus Ra, he wants me to blow up the mountain with everyone inside of it."

I grit my teeth, hands curling into fists. It's a sound decision. Setrákus Ra cannot be allowed to live. And yet, rage fills me at the thought of Adam blowing up the mountain with any of our friends inside.

"So what?" Six asks after a moment.

"So what?" Adam gapes. "What about living to fight another day?"

"I think we're about out of more days," Six says. "This has to end today. One way or another."

"Get back to the ship," I say. "I'm going to be sending Marina up the moment things go south, assuming they do."

The screen flashes and we all look. Our warship is blasting the battlefield outside. I smile. Good. They haven't finished the fight yet. The blasts end and Nine, John, and Marina all emerge from what looks like a stone turtle shell.

"They'll be in soon," Six says as a noise like something moving very fast through the air reaches my ears. "Let's go meet the-"

A sound like a bullet hitting bullet-proof glass interrupts her and she turns. I grin. My left arm is held out to my side and a force field is hovering in the air behind me, cracks spread throughout it from the tentacle that only just barely managed to breach it. The tentacle would have impaled Six if I hadn't blocked it.

"Well well," I grin, turning around, the cracks in my force field beginning to seal. "Phiri Dun-Ra. I missed you at Patience Creek."

Phiri Dun-Ra's tentacle rips free of my force field, shattering it, and returns to her side with the other two.

"That thing really is disgusting isn't it?" I ask, forming a disk over my right hand.

"This bitch again?" Six snarls. "Great. I was hoping to meet her again."

"This time, I think it's best if we simply put her out of our misery," I say. "Any complaints?"

"None," Adam growls.

"Couldn't agree more," Six says.

I nod and throw the disk. It streaks across the room and amputates Phiri Dun-Ra's arm just above where it turns into the tentacles, then, Six hauls her forward with her Telekinesis. Phiri's arm regrows its tentacles almost instantly but before she can do anything with them, Six slams her down into the ground. Adam fires at Phiri Dun-Ra but the first shot hits her right shoulder and the tentacles block the rest. She stands and Adam fires again. The tentacles twist together into a shield, guarding her entire body, until my force field lance punches through it. She shrieks in pain, the tentacles retracting and regenerating as she stumbles backward, the lance in her right hip.

"Oh that's going to hurt," I grin snapping my fingers.

Her right leg is blasted off instantly, the rest of her flying through the air and crashing into the wall. Adam stomps his foot and the stalactites above her break loose and fall. At the last second, the tentacles shoot upward, smashing all but one, which punches down through her left leg. She screams, the tentacles breaking it off above her leg then ripping the rest free.

"This is just sad," I grunt raising my rifle. "I'm tired of this already."

I squeeze the trigger and a moment later there's a hole in Phiri Dun-Ra's forehead. Her body drops, immobile, but not dissolving.

"No," I say, stomping.

A spike explode out of her left side, lifting her up off the ground, thick black blood leaking out of her mouth. I snap my fingers and she's suddenly a ring around the spike, like with the Mogadorian blasters outside. Then, I snap again and repaint the room for about two seconds before the entrails turn into ash.

"Thank God," Six groans. "I hate that bitch. Adam, head back to the ship. The others should be inside by now and me and James are going to go help."

Adam nods and we all head back to the entrance before Six and I branch off, heading downward, deeper into the mountain. After several moments, we stop at a ledge, below which are countless bodies, all looking to have been sucked dry, drained of their Loric spark, and killed because of it. Then, we turn. Behind us is a cliff, overlooking a lake of thick black goo. Part of it is frozen and Marina is on a ledge just below ours. Below her, Setrákus Ra is standing between Nine, who's holding a dagger John had made from the Voron noose, and John, who's hands are ablaze. Setrákus looks different. It takes me a second to figure out why. He's young. He's back to as he was during the vision, from before he fought Pittacus Lore. Even the noose's scar is gone. Marina holds her hand out just as Setrákus begins toward John, firing a volley of massive icicles that impale Setrákus. Thank God. It's over. He's got icicles through every organ in his torso.

"The only thing you've created is pain and suffering!" Marina shouts. "All those bodies up there! For what!? So you could craft those hideous powers?"

I blink. Why is she asking a dead man questions? And why is Setrákus Ra not dissolving.

"Oh no, my dear," Setrákus Ra says, my blood running cold. "Lorien is stingy with his gifts. I had to tap directly into the source to create what you see here."

He runs a hand over his face, clearly believing himself to be the picture of perfection.

"Draining those others was merely a trial run for one of my new Augmentations," Setrákus Ra says. "They died in service to glorious progress."

Phiri Dun-Ra. yup. Definitely should have killed her in Mexico.

"You're mad!" Marina seethes. "For all your supposed beauty, you've never created anything as beautiful as Lorien did!"

Heat suddenly radiates off of Setrákus Ra, melting the icicles before he spins to look at Marina, his skin turning dark, a mop of curly hair growing out of his skin. He's Eight.

"Haven't I?" Setrákus asks, using Eight's voice and floating into the air toward Marina. "Didn't I promise to reunite you with your love?"

I look down and realize Six has turned us invisible. I take her free hand and start to create a force field lance in it, Six keeping it invisible as I do.

"That could still be yours, dear Marina," Setrákus says, his eyes burning with a malice Eight's never did.

Then, John hits him with his stone vision, petrifying his lower half and attaching him to the ground. I fire. My lance is visible instantly and punches straight through Setrákus Ra's abdomen. The moment it's halfway through, I snap my fingers and a dozen spikes explode out of Setrákus Ra. Then, they all shatter and everyone, except Setrákus Ra who's gone limp, look up at us as Six allows us to become visible again.

"James!" Marina cheers and I drop down to her, hugging her.

"Sorry I'm late," I say. "But, I just have to say, I totally called the god-like power back in Mexico."

"I wish you would stop saying things that come true," Marina says.

"Just one more," I say. "Setrákus Ra dies today. Where's Five?"

Marina stares at the ground.

"Setrákus Ra tore his face off then threw him in the sludge," Nine says.

"What no scar?" I ask. "Maybe he's alive."

"He can't be," Nine says. "It's just not possible."

I nod. He's probably right. And either way, we still had a god to fight.

Setrákus Ra roars in rage, suddenly arching his back, thick black sludge shooting out of the suddenly boiling lake, stabbing into him, filling the wounds I gave him. Then, once he's healed, he slams a fist down on the stone over his legs, shattering it. John restores it instantly and Nine sprints forward in a blur. he sprints up the stone, slashing at Setrákus Ra, splitting his face open. For a half second, there's black blood, then the tendrils of ooze traveling through his veins flood the wound, sealing it. John reaches out, squeezing Setrákus's armor. Marina does the same. I reach out, making a fist and the armor compacts completely, crushing his torso. He bellows in agony, ripping the armor off, sludge instantly shooting up to him, crashing together on his mutilated torso, restoring it.

"I love your supercharged Telekinesis," Six says.

"So do I," I say as Nine sprints at Setrákus again.

On Setrákus's chest, exactly where Six impaled him, there's a bulging, pulsing mass of black sludge, not concentrated like the rest of his body. In the blink of an eye, Nine's in front of Setrákus Ra, driving the knife into the mass. My gut drops. They think that's a weak point. It's not. I can feel it. Sense it. Like I could sense the Loric Energy's pain when it was being sucked up. Like I've been feeling the pain and fear of the fragment of the Loric Entity that resides in the sludge Setrákus is using to fight us. I can sense the power within the sludge. Within the spot on his chest. It's not a weak point. I don't know what to call it. A port? An entrance? It was where he absorbed power from the lake whenever it reached up to him. Stabbing him there was a very bad idea.

"Is this a children's story?" Setrákus Ra smiles. "I have spent centuries perfecting my work. And you think...what? That there is a weak point?"

He takes a breath and the knife, along with Nine's hand, are sucked completely into the mass. I reach out, yanking on Nine with my Telekinesis but he doesn't budge.

"Behold, a demonstration," Setrákus says.

Nine screams in agony. His arm begins to turn blue, then grey and withered. The grey begins to reach up his arm but before it can get higher than his elbow, I send out a force field disk, removing the arm halfway up the bicep, then yank Nine with my Telekinesis just as Setrákus again breaks free of the stone, Nine's arm melting into black sludge and being absorbed by the mass. I catch Nine and pass him to Marina, who begins to seal his stump of an arm as I step off the cliff onto a barrier, crossing my arms as I float out toward Setrákus as he stomps on the stone pillar, shattering it.

"You're late James," Setrákus Ra grins. "I already killed Five."

"Thank you," I growl. "It would have been a pain to try and keep him locked up after all of this. Now, do me a favor and die."

I shove my hand at him, impaling him with a lance. He smirks at me, beginning to fly forward, impaling himself further on it.

"No, really," I growl. "Die."

I snap my fingers, compressing him on the lance. Then, I snap again and black ooze splatters around the room. The others stare in shock, except Nine, who's beginning to go into shock. I open my mouth to speak but am cut off by a deafening bellow. My force field shatters and I fall, managing to just barely cushion the fall with my Telekinesis, though my hands are clamped over my ears and I'm in the fetal position, like the others. As the bellow of rage and pain continues, I feel blood beginning to run out of my ears. Then, the lake, now boiling, explodes upward, massive tendrils of it coiling around and around until finally, Setrákus Ra was restored, this time in the form we knew him in. He roars in rage, shoving his hand at me. Tentacles of black goo explode out of his palm and fly toward me but I roll aside, forming a force field sword and removing them then flipping to my feet and slashing another just before it could impale me. Setrákus roars in rage but it's muted by my damaged ear drums.

I hurl the sword at Setrákus and pull my rifle around, switching it to full auto and holding the trigger down, gritting my teeth against the strain of keeping up with the fire rate. Force field bullets blast through Setrákus Ra too fast to know how many I fire. Setrákus Ra backs away, roaring in rage, holding an arm over his face instinctively. Then, finally, he thrusts his hand out, making a fist and my rifle is crushed into a ball of metal, only barely missing taking my trigger finger with it. I hurl it aside, holding out a pair of finger guns and beginning to fire again, punching bigger but less accurate holes in him this time. Setrákus Ra backs away again, roaring louder in pain. Then, he swipes his hand in front of him, hurling me into the wall, where I form a crater and get stuck. goo from the lake shoots up to Setrákus Ra, entering through the thing on his chest and filling the holes back in. He turns to glare at me before his glare turns into a sneer. I instantly know his plan.

I look left. Six is unconscious beside Nine, seeming to have passed out from the sheer volume that deafened me. Understandable. I was barely conscious for part of it. Marina was the one that concerned me at the moment, however. She was sprinting toward me. I look back at Setrákus Ra just as he holds his hand out toward her, three Tentacles exploding out, flying at her. She notices them but there's no time for her to react. I can't move. She can't dodge them. She's going to die. My curse has won. I'm going to lose her. Desperation fills me. I have to save her. I know instantly that no amount of force fields will save her and I can't move her out of the way fast enough, even with the full power of my Telekinesis.

Suddenly I remember one of the last things Eight ever said to me. _I'm watching over you two now. Nothing's going to hurt her again._

I do the only thing I can think of. If Eight really is watching over us, only he can save Marina.

"Eight!" I shout.

Then, my chest and abdomen explode into agony. I blink, looking around, my head moving sluggishly. I'm not in the wall. I'm in front of Marina. I have one tentacle through my heart and left lung, one through my right lung, and one through my stomach. I teleported. Or I _got_ teleported. Eight. He is watching over us. He saved Marina. Setrákus Ra blinks in surprise before wrenching his tentacles free. I drop on the spot, entire body numb. Marina drops to her knees beside me, already sobbing.

"James!" Marina sobs. "No! You can't! You bastard!"

"It's alright," I smile. "He's watching over you. You're safe."

"You can't die!" Marina sobs. "I need you!"

A cool feeling floods through me. She's healing me. She'd probably succeed if she has enough time, but I know I'd slip into a coma. I look down. My shirt's gone, exposing the three gaping holes and the scar left by my first fight with Setrákus Ra. The same that should have claimed Eight. Perhaps it's irony, or maybe poetic justice, or some other cliché supernatural force that he and I should both be originally intended to die at Setrákus Ra's hands. Perhaps this is to make up for Eight's death being delayed. I'm not sure. I don't care. Setrákus is coming. Nine leaps at him but Setrákus backhands him, sending him flying then picks up Marina. She slaps him, her healing Legacy still active and suddenly he recoils, dropping her. His face has a gash in it where Nine slashed him and a chunk of it falls away. It's almost instantly restored again, but John and Marina both saw. He does have a weakness. Healing. Now that's ironic.

"Please James!" Marina sobs, already trying to heal me again. She manages to get my left lung and heart healed but then I push her hands away, pushing myself up.

"Leave," I say, blood flooding my still punctured lung. "Take Six and Nine. Get out."

"No!" Marina snaps.

I surround her in a force field and send her up to Six, who's awake now. John quickly tells her to get Marina and Nine out and Six picks both up, Nine apparently coherent enough to give her his strength. And his antigravity, apparently, as Six sprints up the side of the cliff and away from the battle, Marina screaming and flailing, trying to get free all the while. I turn to John who gives me a knowing look. I could have left too. He knows what he has to do and he is not going back to survive. We both know. But I'm not going to make it either. In the time it took Marina to heal my heart and lung, I lost more blood than my first fight with Setrákus. I'm going to die whether she seals my wounds or not. I run my hand over each wound and force fields appear in each, stopping my bleeding. Now, I keep Setrákus in place. Should be easy.

Setrákus growls in annoyance, small spikes growing from each of his knuckles as he lands in front of me. I grit my teeth, glancing at John. John's waiting for me to give him an opening to start. Okay then. An opening I can do. I coat my hands and feet in force fields and throw a punch at Setrákus Ra. He doesn't dodge the punch, so the impact blasts him backward several feet. He slams a foot down, stopping himself then sprints forward, swinging at me. He's fast, like Nine. I sidestep it, smashing my fist into him again. He's ready this time. He recoils a single step and I jump, spinning and kick him in the side of the face. He flips, crashing down then rolling aside just before I slam my fist down into him. He kicks at me and I flip over it. He spins to his feet like a kung fu master and steps forward, swiping at me rapidly.

I avoid his punches, one after another then throw one of my own. It collides with his side over his kidney and he grunts in pain, staggering sideways into another spinning kick. Then, he flies across the room into the wall, a trail of dark black blood leaking from the corner of his mouth. He rips himself free of the wall, sprinting at me and I grit my teeth. The next part's going to hurt me. A lot. John is sprinting to intercept Setrákus Ra. Before he can, Setrákus needs to be slowed a bit, to give John time. I raise my hands, the force fields on them and my feet shattering and fading. Setrákus Ra skids to a stop. Then, force fields begin to explode out of my body, tearing me apart. I hear John shout in surprise. He stops. My force fields tear into Setrákus Ra. They sever muscles. They dislocate bones. They shred skin, and they turn ligaments to dust. But most importantly, they tear that mass of pulsing black ooze out of his chest, shredding it into a million pieces. Through the pain, and without his core, Setrákus is unable to draw on his lake of goo. But the core is already regrowing in his chest. Soon, he'll be able to. The rest of the damage is insignificant. It's gone in seconds. But his core is taking longer.

I drop, what little blood I have left pooling below me.

 _John, do it now. Before his core regrows. He can't draw on the lake right now. Get him now!_

Just as John leaps onto Setrákus, slamming his hands into the sides of his head and beginning to heal him, my vision goes black. I feel a tickle at the back of my mind. Ella. Except I can feel Marina. Ella's playing telephone.

 _Goodbye Marina._ I say through Ella's connection. _I love you. I wish I could have kept my promise to protect you. To marry you. John is going to remove that shit from Setrákus Ra. He'll just be an ancient Lorien again. You have to bring the mountain down now. Tell...Adam...to..._

* * *

Read and review.


	46. Chapter 46

I do not own Lorien Legacies or any of the characters.

* * *

Last Chance

I open my eyes. Field. The same where I proposed to Marina.

 _So that's what heaven looks like huh? I can live with this. Just wish I had a way to watch over Marina._

I hear grass crunch behind me and turn, smiling as I see Eight. He smiles as well, stepping up beside me.

"Thank you," I say. "For saving her."

"Sorry I threw you in the way," Eight says.

"Don't be," I say. "It made Setrákus Ra stop attacking her, as opposed to him chasing her around the room while I'm still stuck in a wall. Besides, she's safe and by now Setrákus is either dead or about to be."

"Dead now," Eight says. "But John's not. or Five."

"Lucky bastards," I grumble. "They would make me die alone with Setrákus Ra. At least he didn't come to heaven with me."

"Heaven?" Eight asks before laughing. "Is that where you think this is? No no. This isn't heaven."

"Then where are we?" I ask. "It sure doesn't look like Hell."

"Far from it," Eight laughs. "This is the inside of your own mind."

"What?" I ask. "What, you mean I lived?"

"Oh hell no!" Eight snorts. "No you died. Kicked the bucket. Rang your bell."

"Then what the hell is going on?" I ask.

"Language James, language," Eight chuckles. "You were doing so well at that before. Besides, I'm here to explain. You _did_ die. So did John. And Five."

"Then how are we alive?" I ask, turning to face him and glaring.

"Calm down," Eight laughs. "I'm trying to tell you that. Listen, when I intervened and used some of...what did Ella call him...Legacy's power to get my teleporting Legacy back long enough to help you save Marina, Legacy was thoroughly and truly confused. Couldn't understand how I could have the will power to take his energy, or why I would do it, when I'm already dead and have no reason left to interfere in the world of the living. He doesn't really understand feelings, and he doesn't understand why I would interfere when it's not my place. So, I spent some time, felt like longer than the few minutes it actually took, explaining to him that I love Marina, and that you're probably the best friend I've ever had aside from her. He still didn't understand. But I did manage to convince him to give you all a second chance. So, he gave Six a new Legacy, just long enough to save you all."

"The ability to bring the dead back to life," I summarize.

"Yes," Eight nods. "Her grief at you and John both being killed by Setrákus Ra activated the legacy and revived the two of you."

"But how?" I ask. "They were supposed to level the mountain."

"They did," Eight says. "After Six and Marina went to make sure Setrákus Ra was dead and retrieve the bodies of Marina's boyfriend and our fearless leader. When Six got there and saw you both, the legacy activated and brought you back to life, then burned itself out. Marina, who was understandably weeping on your chest, felt the first heartbeat and began to heal you, sealing your wounds but you still fell into a coma. Again. Of course, granted that there was no blood left in your body, you're lucky you didn't die again on the spot."

"True," I nod. "So, how long have I been out? And what happened?"

"Honestly, I'm not sure about either of those," Eight says. "I know Setrákus Ra is finished, and you've been out for more than a week, but I don't know exactly."

"Can I wake up myself?" I ask.

"Doubtful," Eight says. "Though, the fact that you're finally conscious enough for me to talk to you is progress. I think you'll be up soon. Anyway. My time's up. I gotta go. Legacy's going to be mad I took so long. This will be the only time we bring you back from the dead, so it'll be your last chance at being alive. I also won't be able to keep watching over you. But you don't need me to. From here on out, you're her guardian alone. Honestly, with that one exception, she never needed another. Take care James. And keep Marina safe."

Eight fades and I blink in surprise before turning, looking out across the field.

"How can I keep her safe if I can't even wake myself up?" I ask no one in particular. "And safe from what? The war's over, right?"

I sigh, closing my eyes and grit my teeth. I focus. Try to will myself awake. At first, all I get is a headache from gritting my teeth too hard. Then, I start to become aware of other things. The pain of lying in the same uncomfortable position for too long. The ache of hunger that comes from being on an IV of nutrients you need to live but inly enough to keep you alive. The pain of dehydration. The burn in my eyes from not using them for too long. I try to raise my hand to rub then and feel the ache of underused muscles that don't want to fully respond. Finally, I open my eyes and see a silhouette over me, a silhouette because of the painfully bright light behind them. I raise a hand to block the light, and just like that, it's out. I blink, my vision dark for a moment before focusing. After a moment, I blink, lowering my hand and looking around. Marina is over me, tears flooding down her face as she resists the urge to crush me to death with a hug. Next to the light switch is the now one-armed Nine. At his side are Hawkeye and Rookie, both of whom have a few old-looking scars on their exposed arms that I had never seen before.

I open my mouth to speak but feel like I might start bleeding if I do. Marina reaches up, healing my head of the brain damage I clearly have again, then hands me a glass of water. I drink half of it, wait a minute, then drink the rest.

"How long?" I croak, sounding awful.

"Almost a year," Marina says, helping me sit up, since everyone in the room knows I want to. "You've been out almost a full year."

"More than a week huh Eight?" I snort, the others all looking confused. "Eight payed me a visit before I woke up."

"Eight?" Marina asks. "The real Eight? Like, his spirit?"

"Yeah," I nod. "Nine, come here."

Nine walks over and I unpin his sleeve, letting it fall to his side before resting my hand on his shoulder. After a moment, it glows and Nine's arm slowly regrows until it's completely restored, albeit as white as my sheets.

"You can control that now?" Nine asks.

"Kind of," I say. "It's easier when it's a missing limb."

Nine nods, flexing and stretching his arm. Hawkeye passes me another glass of water and I drink it quickly then toss it back.

"Now can I have something that will actual help?" I ask. "Like a lake?"

Hawkeye rolls his eyes, grinning, and I swing my legs off then bed. Marina helps me stand up and my legs wobble, threatening to give out. I'm thin. Very thin. And my legs struggle to support me, even though I'm willing to bet I weigh a whopping eighty pounds.

"So, where are we and what did I miss?" I ask.

"I'll fill him in on what I can while I get him dressed in something decent," Nine says.

"Hold on," Marina says.

He rests her hands on my shoulders, Nine holding me up with Telekinesis for her. Then, Marina's hands begin to glow. Slowly, the ache all over my body fades and my body fills back in, the muscles that had left me while I was out being restored until I look the same as when we went after Setrákus. I smile and Nine releases me. I stumble, then regain my balance. Muscles or no, my coordination and control is still shot. Marina hands me my clothes and leaves and Hawkeye, Nine, and Rookie take turns filling me in on current events. The various nations of the world had created combined rules that tried to govern Legacies. Among those is that I can only use my powers for good and that crap. They had also created laws governing how LANEs would be trained, even though Nine was the one training them, and laws for how the surviving Mogadorians could live and where, which happened to be an extremely cold prison camp. Then, Nine showed me a paper, a script. An Oath of Enlistment. It's not for any of the military branches that were around when I died. This was for joint military branch across several, if not all, nations and was called Earth Garde. The Oath was almost the same as the one I had recited for the Marine Corps, except it said Legacies could only be used for the betterment of mankind and that LANEs had to defend the planet, and faithfully serve their nation. Not the constitution, not the people, not even the planet. Nope. Anyone who joins Earth Garde serves only their nation. I make a disgusted face and hand it back, pushing myself up and stumbling before regaining my footing.

"I hate humans," I decide. "Give a few a special ability and they try to draft them into being militarized slaves."

"Yup," Nine nods, opening the door and stepping aside. "Shall we go get you working again?"

I nod and very carefully, and probably quite humorously, wobble my way out of the room. Marina's waiting in the hallway and meets me with a kiss. I kiss her back instantly, and only pull back when one of the others clears their throats.

"What?" I ask.

"We're supposed to be getting you going again," Nine says.

"Later," I say. "I'm excited to be alive."

As if on cue, my legs buckle and I sit down hard. I grumble in frustration, trying to stand only to drop again.

"Alright fine," I huff, Marina helping me up. "Let's go then."

"Once you get going, there are a couple of things you need to know," Marina says as we walk down the hallway of the Academy, a rip off of Charles Xavior's school for mutants, only we handle LANEs, apparently. "You've been getting letters from your father recently, five I think. And also, you were selected to be a police officer, or enforcer, for laws regarding Legacy usage."

"I was in a coma," I say. "How did I get chosen?"

"Nine was the only one to vote," Marina grins.

"Figures," I sigh. "Rookie, can you go grab my letters? And a Tavor and M16, if we have any."

"You're not ready for shooting," Nine laughs.

"True," I agree. "But rifle manual and drill will get my coordination back faster."

Rookie branches off at the next turn and I glance into a gymnasium where several LANEs are tossing footballs back and forth with Telekinesis.

"So, where's everyone else?" I ask.

"Well, Lexa lives here, as a benevolent hacker, keeping any Garde out of the news, just to be safe," Nine says. "Six and Sam are on a year long honeymoon vacation, may or may not come back with a plus one-"

"I doubt they're that stupid," Hawkeye says.

"Who said it'd be an accident?" Nine asks.

"Anyway," I say, deciding I'd like to avoid talking about Six and Sam's sex life for the time being. "What about the rest of the others?"

"John lives in the Himalayas, supposedly fixing up that cave where the teleport stone is," Nine says. "Not sure what for, but hey, whatever keeps him busy. Ella's there with him, living in the village at the foot of the mountains."

"And Sarah?" I ask.

"She lives in Paradise, Ohio again," Nine says. "John visits about once a week, apparently, but for whatever reason has decided to live in the mountains like a hermit rather than staying with is smokin' hot girlfriend. Aside from that, Daniela's helping rebuild New York, and Five's still dead."

I stop mid-stride and the others look over at me.

"What?" Marina asks.

"Uh...what about Adam?" I ask. "Was he arrested with the rest of the Mogadorian?"

"Not exactly," Marina says. "He wasn't arrested, but he does live there with them. He got a formal pardon from the world leaders so he could leave whenever he wants to, but he won't turn his back on his people."

"He's actually gotten a few to convert away from their dead psychopath dictator," Nine says.

I nod, starting forward again as we step outside where Hawkeye and Rookie have a shooting range and a nice big drill field.

"Alright," Nine grins. "So, we'll start off small. One lap around the drill field, minimal Telekinetic assistant."

"That's a full mile run," I say.

"Problem?" Nine asks.

"I can barely walk ten feet," I say.

Nine arches an eyebrow just as Rookie jogs over, a Tavor and M16 slung over his shoulders and a handful of letters in his hands. I take them from him, opening the oldest and scan it. I have a slight smile for about ten seconds. Then, it melts away.

"What?" Marina asks.

I ball up the first letter, tearing the second open and read it quickly. That one follows the first, as do the others in the same manner after I've read them all. When I finish the fifth, I lower it to my side, staring straight ahead.

"What's wrong?" Marina asks.

"Looks like I'm running after all," I say. "Marina, you better pack."

Marina looks confused before I turn, stumbling away, beginning around the drill field.

* * *

Read and review.


	47. Chapter 47

I do not own Lorien Legacies or any of the characters.

* * *

Father

I stare at the house. Oh how I hated visiting my father. He was everything I never wanted to be. But, he had asked to meet Marina. And when I told her after I had finished rehabbing myself, she had all but ordered me to bring her. So, here we were. In a small town in the state of Maine, where no warships had bothered to go. Why would they? There was nothing in Maine. Except my father.

"I'm going to warn you, I don't actually know how this is going to go," I warn Marina as we walk up the driveway toward my father's house. "I haven't seen my father for years."

"Don't worry," Marina smiles as we reach the door. "I'm sure I can handle anything he can throw at me."

"i wouldn't be too sure," I snort, resting a hand on the door nob. "My father's really good at throwing things.

I turn the nob and it's locked. I sigh, kicking the door, shattering the door frame and launching it open. I hear a chuckle from inside.

"Inviting me in then locking me out, huh?" I ask. "You haven't changed at all...Dad."

"Catch," my father says, holding out his hand.

Instantly, a force field spear streaks out of the dark hallway where my father is hidden by shadows. I snap my arm up, forming three shields between the spear and us. The spear smashes through two then only barely stops partway through the last.

"Oh of course you'd get my Legacies you piece of shit!" I snarl, the shield and spear both shattering.

"Sorry," my father says, stepping out of the shadows, his beer gut hanging over his belt, his white muscle shirt sweat stained and his greying beard unshaved in a couple of months. "But did you ever think that maybe yours developed after mine?"

"No," I snarl. "Mine started to develop as soon as Legacy woke up."

"But when did mine develop?" he asks picking up a shotgun and racking it, allowing me to see it was empty.

"No fucking way," I gape. "A shotgun!?"

I hold out both hands, forming a dozen shields this time just as he pulls the trigger. The tiny force field pellets blast through the shields instantly, peppering both me and Marina. She shouts in pain and I grab her, diving to the ground under another blast. She quickly heals us both and I thank her before pulling my rifle around in front of myself.

"My turn," I growl.

I roll into the doorway and squeeze off a single shot, putting a hole through his head. However, the moment it appears, a thick black oil fills the gap in. My mouth falls open.

"You piece of shit!" I snap, shoving my self up. "Where the hell did you get that!?"

"From the same being that trained me," my father says.

I raise my rifle, putting it on auto and spraying shots at him. His hand flashes around, a condensed and supercharged shield about as big around as a basketball blocking my shots, which all shatter on the shield. Then, his shield fades and he makes a fist, my entire gun crumpling into a ball, as Setrákus Ra had done. I drop it and send a blast of Telekinetic energy at him. He fakes a yawn and holds a hand up, the house behind him exploding into debris but he remains unaffected. I growl in annoyance.

"My my, James," he grins. "You are truly very disappointing."

"Marina, be ready to start healing him on my cue," I growl, forming a force field over both hands and feet.

"Finally," he snorts. "Some excitement."

I sprint forward, ducking under his haymaker and grabbing him, smashing him into the ground, then kicking him away. He crashes through his white picket fence then crashes into a large pine tree, blasting the trunk into bits and dropping. The tree falls sideways, crashing to the ground and I grin, walking out to meet my father as he stands. He doesn't have martial arts training. I do.

He stands, cracking his neck, and creates a force field over his body like a second skin, grinning as he sprints forward, throwing a haymaker at me. I duck under the punch then stand with an upper cut, making him stagger backward. He sets his feet and sprints at me again, throwing several punches. He's fast, but he has to technique. I drop, sweeping his legs out from under him then kick him before he can land, launching him again. He lands in a roll and the force field over his body transitions from his body to his hand, then grows into a sword like I make. I form one of my own and we both charge.

He slashes at me rapidly and I avoid several before blocking his sword. He spins instantly and I duck under a slash. As it comes back in the other direction, I catch his arm and stab at him, but he turns sideways, avoiding it. Then, he catches my arm before I can slash and head butts me. I stagger back and he leaps at me, slashing. Before he reaches me, I fire four force field spears which impale him through the hands and feet then flip, pinning him to the ground. Marceline sprints over instantly, beginning to remove the black ooze in his body. He thrashes against the spears but after a couple of minutes, he falls still as the last of it is destroyed.

"Calmed down yet?" I ask.

"Fuck you!" he spits.

"Tell me, why and how did you train with Setrákus Ra?" I ask. "And why would you put that shit in your body?"

"Because," my father snarls. "I was on vacation in Russia."

"You got turned over," I state.

"That's right," he snarls. "Humanity saw fit to hand me over. But I killed all of the alien freaks meant to restrain me, so Setrákus Ra decided to train me fore a few days, then injected that shit into me and sent me on my way. After he was killed, I returned to the mountain for more of that crap."

"More?" I blink.

The ground around us begins to crack and black ooze shoots into the air. Just as it streaks down at my father, I drive my sword into his face and the ooze crashes to the ground with a wet splat.I create a force field under me and Marina and we rise into the air, my father's body doing the same, then I collapse the ground, revealing a five foot wide, three foot deep swimming pool filled with the black goo.

"Well, that's not good," I say.

"Nope," Marina agrees. "This might get ugly."

"Only one way to get rid of it," I say.

She nods, and I float us to the ground, leaving my father's body in the top of a tree, careful to impale him on it so he doesn't fall. Then, Marina holds her hands out over the goo, beginning to heal it. It begins to boil, raging around and around in the pool, but after several moments, it falls still. Marina stops, lowering her hands to her side as the black goo begins to turn blue and fade.

"What did you do?" I ask.

"I...I don't know," Marina says.

"Legacy's reclaiming it," Nine says from behind us, making us both jump.

We spin and Nine raises his hands.

"Sorry," Nine says. "You guys were taking a while with your father so I decided to come check on you. Looks like you had it handled."

"He had my Legacies," I state. "And Setrákus's goo. Nasty combination. Fortunately he was weaker than Setrákus. Anyway, how'd you end go?"

"The twins decided to go down fighting too, so I had to kill them," Nine says. "Gotta say, psychos with Legacies is actually kind of fun, when we learn about them early. I think I'm going to like this whole, Garde Police Force thing."

While we had been dealing with my father, who had murdered a dozen people with his Legacies and then called me out for a duel through the letters he sent me, Nine had been fighting a pair of twins who possessed Pyrokinesis and Cryokinesis respectively, like a weak version of John and Marina if John and Marina were siblings. He was sporting a few burns and a couple of small gashes and puncture wounds from ice, but aside from that he looked fine, and Marina patched that up quickly. Then, we headed back to the Academy, using the Skimmer that was left over from the invasion, a gift from an entire warship that had sat the war out.

* * *

Read and review.


	48. Chapter 48

I do not own Lorien Legacies or any of the characters.

* * *

Finished

I stare at the husk of a man, well, young adult, in silence, Marina leaning on my shoulder, skin cold. Five's standing on an island, staring blankly into the water as he holds up his makeshift fishing pole, waiting for a fight to bite. He's thin, scarily so. And there are solid black spots dotting his body from where he was drowned in Setrákus Ra's lake. About the time we had gotten back from dealing with my father, we had found a video of something, meaning Five, exploding out of the rubble of the mountain in West Virginia and flying into the air, disappearing. Obviously, Marina couldn't leave it alone. So, now here we are, watching Five for the fifth day in a row.

"Marina," I say. "Why do we keep coming out here? He's not doing anything illegal or psychotic right now, and I think he's payed for most of what he did. Maybe not killing Eight, but he's in self-enforced exile now. He's trying to repent."

"I can't forgive him," Marina says.

"I know," I say. "And you don't have to. But you do have to let him go. You and me are supposed to be the level-headed ones, remember? The most merciful. I think it's time you forgot about Five, and let him stay here."

"Maybe," Marina sighs.

"He's right," a voice says behind us, startling us both.

We spin around just as John becomes visible. He's got a beard growing now, and long hair, but aside from that he looks alright.

"Long time no see," I grin. "Longer for you, since I was comatose. How've you been?"

John smiles and lands lightly on the boat.

"Not bad," John says. "Took longer than I thought, but it's finished."

"Did you drop Ella off with Nine already?" I grin and John laughs.

"Nah, she stayed behind at the mountain," John smiles. "So, he survived after all huh?"

"Not exactly," I say. "In truth, all three of us died."

Marina's hand tightens around my own. She hates it when I talk about that. John looks confused but I shake my head.

"Forget it," I smile. "Yeah, he survived. Now we're trying to decided what to do with him."

"Why don't you two come back to the mountain with me," John invites us. "See what I've done with the place. Then, you and Marina can decide what you're going to do about Five there."

I nod and look to Marina, who nods as well. John opens a cigar box and pulls out two pendents before tossing the box into the water. The pendants are Loralite and John explains that he carved them out of the stone in the mountain where the prophecy about Eight's death had been. He explains that if we're wearing them, and we picture the mountain, we'll be teleported there. I slip my hand into Marina's and she takes John's hand in her other, then suddenly, it's cold. Not unbearably so, but since I'm the only one who doesn't generate wither ice or fire, it's cold.

"Probably going to need a space heater for anyone without Cryokinesis or Pyrokinesis," I say, creating a Force Field around my body, trapping my body heat. "That's better."

I look around, Marina doing the same. The pictures, every single one, has been scrubbed off the walls. Marina walks to the exact spot where Eight's death had been drawn, and runs her fingers over the stone. When she turns back around, there are tears in her eyes.

"Thank you John," Marina smiles. "Thank you for taking care of this place."

"Nice table," I say, recognizing the replica of the Lorien Elders' table from the vision we all shared so long ago. "Who're the elders now?"

"Well," John says, thinking. "Me, Marina, Adam, Nine, Six, Sam, Ella, Daniela, Lexa, and you. And then we have Walker as kind of like an unofficial one."

I nod and sit on the table, running my hand over the Loralite stone.

"So, I assume they all have their fancy necklaces," I guess.

"Yes," John nods. "And Sarah, of course."

"Well yeah," I snort. "Though, I kinda figured you'd make hers a ring."

"Hey, I never thought of that," John says, scratching his beard.

"Wow," I snort. "Very nice oh fearless leader. Very nice. So, you hear the good news? Me and Marina are Legacy cops now."

"I heard," John laughs. "Speaking of you two, when are you getting married?"

"We figured we'd wait until everyone was back together again," I say. "So, probably pretty soon."

"Bout time," John snorts. "Got everything ready?"

"Of course," I snort. "Got everything ready as soon as I could."

John nods then turns to look at the door as Ella walks in, smiling.

"They're on their way," Ella smiles. "Well, except for Sam and Six. They're a bit...busy."

"How can you possibly know that?" I ask.

"John's memories," Ella says.

"Hey!" John says as I laugh. "It's not like that!"

"Pervert," I grin.

He glares at me as there are several flashes of light and Nine, Daniela, and Lexa appear in the room, Daniela and Lexa instantly shivering.

"Hello Nine," Ella greets.

"Hey Lite-Brite," Nine grins.

I grin at him still using his nickname for her from when she glowed with Loric Energy.

"So, time for the first meeting," John says.

"We're missing two," I remind him.

"We'll get them filled in later," he says. "Besides, the only thing they're missing is me telling them about the new Earth Garde bull shit."

"Oh that," I snort. "I thought it was something important. Well, anyway. I'm going to go explore."

"I'm coming with you," Marina agrees. "See you guys later."

We step outside and I create a force field for us to ride on. We sit down on it and a moment later, we're flying through the air. I don't really have any particular objective. I'm just tired of boring speeches after all the ones I had to listen to leading up to fighting Setrákus Ra. Besides, I already knew all that crap. Honestly, though, I think I'm going to handle training new Garde with Nine, and most likely Marina. Of course, that's going to have to start in at least a month, after our wedding and vacation. Suddenly, I have an objective. I have to go back to the Academy and get the wedding invitations so I can deliver them all before the wedding tomorrow.

THE END

* * *

Read and review.


End file.
